If the tournament were ever held in Cuba, and the political circumstances had not changed, it is possible the US government would refuse to grant the team visas to play in the tournament due to the embargo. Americans basically can't do anything that allows the Nation of Cuba to profit. Bobby Fischer wasn't allowed to participate in a chess tournament in Havana, so there is precedent. While the US has played single matches in Cuba during WCQ, playing a whole tournament there would be a nearly unprecedented situation, but given the Fischer precedent and the fact that embargo laws have only toughened since then, there's a decent chance the US would not be allowed to travel there. Furthermore, even if they did travel there, it is a federal offense for an American to buy anything in Cuba, and if the team is going to be there a whole month, that would be difficult. It's one thing to take a couple days' worth of supplies with you for a single match, which is the only legal option they had for the WCQ. But you're not flying into Cuba with a month's worth of food, drinks, and everything else for the team. Not to mention no American fans would be allowed to travel to Cuba without bureaucratic nightmares. It's one thing for them to allow the players who are representing America on a national stage, but the State Department would never allow American spectators to travel to Cuba. Buying tickets would be a federal offense in itself if it was purchased through a Cuban ticket agency, and even if CONCACAF sold all the tickets, even something like buying a drink at a concession stand could land Americans in jail for a LONG time once they come back. But that's only if they got permission from the American government to go there in the first place, which is rarely granted. And if they left without permission, they would not be allowed back in the country. EVER. Without ANY American spectators following their team, and with the participation of the American team itself in doubt, it's unlikely CONCACAF will give the Gold Cup to Cuba until the embargo is lifted, which might not happen until communist Cuba falls.
If Cuba were to host the Gold Cup, the US might boycott, but I wouldn't bet on it. I don't know why you think the embargo is stricter than the '70s - it has repeatedly been loosened in recent years. Americans are now allowed to go on "cultural exchange tours" to Cuba (which include spending money in Cuba) and Cuban-Americans are allowed to send money to family in Cuba - neither of which was allowed in the '70s. For a sporting example, a college baseball all-star team played 5 games in Cuba last year, and the Orioles played in Cuba in '99 (the first MLB team to do so since the '50s). Also, when US teams play there, they don't bring their own food and drinks. They stay in Cuban hotels and eat in Cuban restaurants. They get State Department exemptions that allow them to. You seem a bit confused about US law as it relates to Cuba. It is (generally) illegal to spend money in Cuba, and for that reason it would be very hard for US fans to attend. It is not illegal for an American to travel to Cuba (with or without government approval). Many Americans go to Cuba every year, including a handful of fans for the last WCQ there. If you do go and spend money and the US government finds out, the normal punishment is a fine. I have no idea where you got the idea that the US wouldn't let you back into the country; it is simply not true. The bigger concern for a Cuban Gold Cup would be the lack of suitable stadiums and infrastructure and the relative lack of fans.
I still think the best bet is Canada. Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton. It probably would not be half as successful profit wise as a USA Gold Cup but it would still have good atmospheres and decent crowds.
Why does the Gold Cup need to played in a single country to begin with? Why not have a 16 team tournament with four pools, each pool played in a separate country. The pools would be separated geographically, making it cheaper and easier for visiting fans to travel. The home country for each geographic pool would be rotated every tournament. For example: Pool A, played in Canada Canada USA Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Pool B, played in Guatemala Guatemala Mexico El Salvador Belize Pool C, played in Jamaica Jamaica Cuba Guadeloupe Haiti Pool D, played in Costa Rica Costa Rica Panama Honduras Nicaragua Play the Quarterfinals in Mexico and the semifinals and finals in the US. That way Concacaf still gets its money, we get other countries involved, and nobody complains about not being allowed to host games.
It still would probably not be half as profitable as having all the matches in the USA due to economics, expendable income, american dollars, etc. Plus Group play attendence would probably be bad after the first match if there is an upset somewhere. Home CONCACAF crowds can be fickle. While US neutral crowds usually go no matter what.
Home crowds being fickle won't be as much of a problem when you have a flood of visiting fans who all of a sudden can afford to travel the shorter distance to see their team play. The point is that the group stages would no longer be dependent on home crowds. Concacaf can have 10,000 people watch a match in a stadium designed for 60,000 people in the US or they can get 30,000 people to watch a match in a stadium designed for 30,000 people. Of course Concacaf would rather get paid in dollars for all of the matches, but sheer increase in volume for ticket sales that would arise from visiting fans being able to travel might make up for getting paid in a less valuable currency. They could always just play the knockout stages in the US if they want to hedge their bets.
16 team Gold Cups from now on, that's all I'm saying USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada, Belize, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe. That's a formidable tournament right there
16 nation tourney functions much better than 12. Have stronger groups like USA, Panama, El Salvador, Jamaica in Group A. Canada, Costa Rica, Belize, Guadeloupe in Group B, Mexico, Dominican Republic, T&T, Nicaragua in Group C. Honduras, Martinique, Cuba, Guatemala in Group D.
This From a skill point of view and fan interest point of view, take Mexico, USA, Brazil, Argentina, and the top 15 or so teams in UEFA out of the picture and there are no teams left that anyone really cares about watching, at least not in the USA. A lot of people are actually kind of concerned about Euro Cup moving to 24 teams because it will cause more match ups of Spain vs middle of the pack teams and bottom feeders in UEFA. The odds of something like Spain vs Italy in the group phase are now less likely.
I would think that would be the real dilemma w/ Cuba hosting. All of their infrastructure seems to have reverted to such a degree that I've read that horse and wagons is a popular form of transport. A shame really, I wish the embargo would end and the country could re-develop.
Martinique. Haiti or DR, doesn't make much of a difference. They can both have a play-off to qualify if need be. Copa America has 10 member nations and invites 2 outside countries to make up the numbers. We can keep 12 of the best performing nations for each tournament and have the rest of the region qualify for those 4 spots.
For the record, im currently in Nigeria and there are a fair amount of commercials for the Gold Cup on TV. i dont know if anyones actually watching it though Edit: and also i hardly see why canada gets an automatic spot, other than the fact their big in size
If they did expand to 16 from 12, at least 2 teams would be from the Caribbean because there are only 2 teams from Central America who don't make it. Based on the results of the 2012 qualifying, those two teams would be French Guiana and the Dominican Republic. If you have both remaining teams from Central America qualify, that means Guatemala and Nicaragua would qualify. It also means that there would be 10 automatic qualifying spots, and only the Caribbean teams would have to qualify so it's unlikely CONCACAF would do that. More likely they would add one at most from Central America. That would mean Antigua and Barbuda and/or Jamaica would get in from the Caribbean (presumably they would have played a playoff, where Jamaica would be favored). Assuming they let only one in from Central America, that team would be Guatemala based on standings this year. And if we assume Jamaica would have beaten Antigua and Barbuda in the playoff, here's what the groups could have looked like this year, with four different hosts for the group stage. Group A (Pasadena/Rose Bowl): United States Costa Rica Haiti Guatemala Group B (Vancouver/BC Place): Canada Trinidad and Tobago El Salvador Dominican Republic Group C (Mexico City/Azteca) Mexico Honduras Cuba French Guiana Group D (Kingston/Jamaica): Jamaica Panama Martinique Belize You'd probably have to do doubleheaders, because I don't think anyone in the USA is going to pay that much money just to see Haiti-Guatemala, nor will people in Mexico want to pay that much money to see Cuba-French Guiana. There were a lot of empty seats for the Canada-Martinique game, but at least it filled in somewhat as fans for the Mexico game arrived. Of course, many Mexico fans watched the Canada-Martinique game in its entirety because they had nothing better to do in Pasadena and it was included with their ticket. So that made the stands look fuller. With 16 teams, you have even more dud games. The ordering of the groups was deliberate - you could then play the two A-D quarterfinals at some other location in the United States, preferably on the East Coast, South, or Midwest since the West Coast already got the group stage. New Jersey (Red Bull Arena or MetLife Stadium) and Soldier Field in Chicago would be good sites. So would Baltimore and even RFK Stadium in Washington. Houston or Dallas (Cowboys Stadium or Pizza Hut Park) would work too. The two B-C quarterfinals could be at Azteca - there's no reason why it can't host the group stage and some quarterfinals, and no place in Mexico will draw nearly as much. Semifinals and final would be at two separate sites in the United States. Use the two regions that weren't used in the quarterfinals or group stage, and make sure they're large stadiums, so don't do Red Bull, BBVA Compass Stadium, or Pizza Hut Park. Cowboys Stadium, Baltimore, Meadowlands, and Soldier Field are all good if their regions haven't been used. So it would be something like quarterfinals at MetLife and Azteca, semifinals at Soldier Field, and finals at Cowboys Stadium. If the same expansion to 16 had been done for 2011, then Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, Nicaragua, and either Guyana or Martinique would have participated in addition to the teams already there.
It does. You probably haven't studied enough of the history of CONCACAF to really say that the DR is on an even keel with Haiti.
Probably available through a satellite dish or something...I've never ever seen a Gold Cup commercial in Canada after more than a decade following football/soccer...
Also it is somewhat funny that the ones who are making excuses for this poorly organised tournament to stay right where it is are the peeps supporting the US when they should be the ones wanting to win this tournament in a foreign country to prove that they can win a tournament away from home...I'm waiting for the''When we play Mexico at the Rose Bowl/at Giants Stadium/in Chicago/in Dallas it's a road game for us!'' argument...
Canada has to be in, they don't have a section to qualify since they are not in the Caribbean or Central America. Unless you make them travel to one Of those qualifiers, that'd be tough for them