ROTHENBERG ASKS FIFA SENIOR VP GRONDONA FOR U.S. TO HOST 2003 WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

LOS ANGELES (December 18, 2000) - Alan Rothenberg, former President of US Soccer, offered to host the 2003 FIFA World Club Championship in the United States. He made the request to FIFA Senior Vice President Julio Grondona during the 3rd Honda Symposium in Los Angeles, which is organized annually by Fútbol de Primera.

This request came after Mr. Grondona said that FIFA feels very confident that the U.S is always prepared and ready to host any international tournament. Following the request, Mr. Gondona smiled and the two shook hands on stage.

Rothenberg also said during a presentation titled "US Soccer: Past, Present and Future" that the US Soccer Federation was studying the possibility of increasing its membership fee from the current level of $0.50 per person. Rothenberg also mentioned the possibility of asking the professional leagues for additional funds as well. If passed, the Federation would potentially generate millions of dollars in additional revenue, which according to Rothenberg would go to player development.

Also during his talk, Rothenberg backed away from an earlier goal that the U.S. would win the World Cup in 2010, saying instead that "The purpose of Project 2010 is to set out a blueprint to put us in a position where we could honestly compete with a reasonable prospect for success in the World Cup and continue to enjoy preeminence on the women's side."

During the 1990s, Mr. Rothenberg served as President of the U.S. Soccer Federation (1990 - 1998), Chairman and CEO of World Cup 1994, and Founder and Chairman of Major League Soccer. He currently holds a seat on the MLS Board of Governors.

Also speaking Monday at the Honda Symposium was Mr. Julio Grondona, currently the Senior Vice-President of FIFA. Mr. Grondona, in a question-and-answer session with Telemundo's Andres Cantor, spoke about "FIFA and its Perspective on the U.S. Soccer."

Perhaps as a sign of how far the U.S has progressed in soccer, Grondona noted, twenty years ago, he would not have pictured himself Los Angeles sharing a stage with Alan Rothenberg and admiring the progress soccer in the U.S. has made during this time.

Mr. Grondona also used the opportunity to speak out on a number of issues facing the sport around the world. In regards to the effort in developing a unified international soccer calendar, Grondona remarked that, "We definitely have to make the changes necessary to make a final unified international calendar including World Cup and qualifying matches." He said that they plan to do at a special FIFA meeting that will take place in Argentina in June 2001.

Finally, Grondona was asked about the controversial voting process for the FIFA Players of the Century Award, announced last week in Rome. He said that he felt the proper solution was for FIFA to honor players from each era, noting, "It isn't possible to choose just one player for the whole century." He felt that the whole voting process did not begin in the best way possible, but in the end they found the most just solution for the players.

Mr. Grondona is one of the most influential people in the world of international soccer. He ranks second only to FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter in world soccer's governing hierarchy, and also has served as President of the Argentina Fútbol Association (AFA) since 1979.

Mr. Grondona became the third person from FIFA to speak at a Honda Symposium. Last year's speakers included both FIFA Director of Communications Keith Cooper and the chairman of FIFA's Medical Commission Dr. Michel D'Hooghe.

The third and final speaker at this year's Honda Symposium was Jaime Rodriguez. A soccer legend in El Salvador, he played for clubs in El Salvador, Mexico, Germany, Japan, and Finland during his playing career. Currently, he is coach of Alianza F.C., one of the biggest teams in El Salvador. Rodriguez also has dedicated himself to improving the state of the game in El Salvador, and spoke on the topic "El Salvador: 10 Years Behind Costa Rica and Honduras."

Rodriguez said that players, coaches, and directors were all to blame for creating many of the problems currently associated with soccer in El Salvador. In the case of club officials, he noted that, "We don't have directors with a vision for the future." In regards to players, he said that they, "don't have vision, goals, proper attitude, nor a desire to win," and but also pointed out that almost 80% of them hold down jobs in addition to playing professional soccer, which leads to a situation where players only train "32 hours per month, or only two hours a day four days a week."

He also criticized the infrastructure, observing that, "The stadiums don't even have the most basic conditions to play pro soccer - only Estadio Cuscatlan does - while the rest don't even have bathrooms or a locker room."

With respect to Costa Rica and Honduras, Rodriguez felt that the major advantage that those countries had compared to El Salvador was that, "They work with youth programs, have a solid infrastructure, and ultimately have a desire to win."

Rodriguez proposed a variety of solutions to the problems soccer in El Salvador faces, among them restructuring the federation; regaining the confidence of sponsors; improving the infrastructure; training directors, coaches, and referees; using ex-players as youth coaches; and doing a better job of identifying players with potential at a young age.

Organized annually by Fútbol de Primera, the first Honda Symposium in 1998 included former U.S. National Team coaches Bora Milutinovc and Steve Sampson, and Roberto Arzu of the Guatemalan Soccer Federation. The symposium allows the leading soccer personalities in the world a forum to express their ideas on the game that they love. Last year's event, which included Mr. Cooper, Mr. D'Hooghe, and Mr. Marcelo Bielsa, head coach of Argentina's National Team, took place in Miami.