WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a soccer promoter’s antitrust lawsuit to go forward against FIFA and the U.S. Soccer Federation over the world governing body’s policy of not permitting a country to host league matches involving teams from other countries.
The high court order leaves in a place a federal appeals court ruling in favor of Relevent Sports, controlled by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.
Relevent sued in 2019 after FIFA disrupted its plan to host a Spanish league match between Barcelona and Girona at Miami Gardens, Florida, and the USSF refused permission to sanction a league match between two teams from Ecuador.
A district court dismissed the lawsuit, but a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reinstated it. The Biden administration weighed in on Relevent’s side at the Supreme Court.
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