US Soccer defeats failed league's antitrust lawsuit
By Mike Scarcella
Feb 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Soccer Federation won a jury verdict in Brooklyn on Monday in a civil antitrust case brought by a defunct league that had accused the group of an unlawful scheme to curb competition for top-tier men's professional soccer.
The defunct North American Soccer League alleged that U.S. Soccer violated antitrust law by twice denying its applications to compete as a professional league. The lawsuit accused U.S. Soccer of conspiring with the 29-team Major League Soccer to insulate it from potential rivals.
U.S. Soccer, which is the national governing body for soccer in the United States, and Major League Soccer denied wrongdoing and argued that plaintiff North American Soccer League failed on its own and not because of any conspiracy against it.
The jury verdict came after about a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez. North American Soccer League was seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
U.S. Soccer in a statement said "we are pleased the jury has recognized the lack of merit in NASL’s claims and ruled in our favor."
A lawyer for North American Soccer League said it expects to appeal.
At trial, U.S. Soccer argued that North American Soccer League failed to meet minimum standards for professional soccer leagues and lost teams based on its affiliation with a sports marketing company that pleaded guilty in a U.S. corruption probe involving soccer's global governing body FIFA.
The case is North American Soccer League v. United States Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 1:17-cv-05495.
For NASL: Jeffrey Kessler of Winston & Strawn; and Clifford Pearson of Pearson Warshaw
For U.S. Soccer: Lawrence Buterman and Christopher Yates of Latham & Watkins
For Major League Soccer: Bradley Ruskin and Colin Kass of Proskauer Rose
Read more:
FIFA must face Puerto Rico soccer league’s lawsuit over match competition
US Supreme Court won't hear U.S. Soccer case over hosting foreign matches
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