The odds of the Copa America Centenario being held in the U.S. next summer are becoming longer by the day, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
A meeting to slated to decide the tournament's fate will be held on Thursday in Mexico City, with CONMEBOL and CONCACAF executive committee members scheduled to attend. However, a U.S. Soccer Federation spokesman confirmed an earlier report from the New York Times that the USSF will not have a representative present at the summit. A source also confirmed the Times' report that the USSF may pull out as host of the event.
In May, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted 14 soccer and marketing executives on corruption charges. Some of the alleged crimes included bribes related to commercial rights for the Copa America Centenario.
As a consequence, both CONCACAF and the USSF want greater transparency in terms of the commercial arrangements for the tournament, and assurances from CONMEBOL that everything is above board.
Last week, CONCACAF issued a statement in which it alluded to the concerns of both the confederation and the USSF.
"We are continuing to work with CONMEBOL, the US Soccer Federation and all other stakeholders on hosting the Copa America Centenario tournament in the United States," the statement read. "CONCACAF is committed to continue working with all parties to address the operational, format and financial issues relating to the tournament in order to ensure greater transparency to this event. We are hopeful that the meeting on Thursday in Mexico City will lead to progress on these issues."
It seems unlikely that this goal will be reached to the USSF's satisfaction, however.
The transparency issue has been known by all parties for months, and yet the two sides haven't been able to reach a resolution. Several deadlines set by the USSF have been missed by CONMEBOL.
The source indicated that there are several companies that the USSF is uncomfortable with still involved in the tournament in some capacity. Until that issue is resolved, it appears likely the two sides will remain at an impasse.
As to whether the U.S. would play in the tournament, even if it didn't host the event, that remains uncertain.
The source stated that there was a 50-50 chance the U.S. would play. At present, the U.S. doesn't have any other games scheduled for the summer months, and the desire to play against top competition with its full team is strong. However that also assumes that the U.S. would be invited, which the source said isn't guaranteed if the U.S. backs out as host.
Since 2007, Copa America has been held every four years, with the latest edition having been staged last June in Chile. This edition is designed to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the formation of CONMEBOL, and was set to include six nations from CONCACAF in addition to the 10 countries that comprise the South American federation.