Los Angeles: FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Monday that Major League Soccer needs to sign more top players to boost the profile of the game in the US.
Infantino, speaking at a conference in Los Angeles, said he recently told MLS officials that bringing in the world’s best players would take soccer to the next level.
“I told them you have to be a little more adventurous, a little more in the game,” Infantino said at the Milken Institute Global Conference. “Bring in the best players.”
Infantino said Inter Miami’s signing of Lionel Messi and the club’s acquisition of other big-name players such as Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets have proven the demand for top talent among American fans.
The FIFA chief pointed to the record crowd of 65,612 that turned out for the New England Revolution’s recent home match against Miami at Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL’s New England Patriots.
“If we want to call it the ‘Messi effect,’ you will see Messi and Inter Miami filling stadiums, not MLS stadiums, but NFL stadiums,” Infantino said.
MLS salary and roster restrictions mean teams are unable to spend freely when it comes to signing top players.
However, the league is facing growing calls – not least from broadcast partner Apple TV – to relax those rules so clubs are able to target more top talent.
Infantino said that bringing in top talent would ultimately benefit the grassroots in North America, giving young players confidence that they can pursue careers in soccer.
“We want to see the best so we need to bring them the best players, but also the best game and the best spectacle,” Infantino said.
“For this we need to invest in players because we want to show the kids who play football in school or when they are very young, that there is a path to glory in football to become one of these world stars .
“This is what they probably haven’t seen yet. They see it in basketball, American football, baseball and ice hockey. But in football, it’s still a long way off. You have to go to Europe. And are there really any great American football players?