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Jan. 13 — JT Batson took a seat in the states inside the sprawling exhibit hall of the United Soccer Coaches Convention on Friday and watched throngs of attendees pass by like afternoon traffic.

Quite a few went on, but some stopped by, realizing that one of the most powerful figures in American soccer was right in front of them.

If you didn’t know Batson, who became CEO of United States Soccer Federation in late September, here’s your chance to meet him. And if they got stuck, they learned some interesting things.

Some were about his football background. Some were about his working relationship with President Cindy Cohn, who sat next to him, and one was about the US Men’s National Team, which was news.

It wasn’t about who the next manager would be. That decision is likely to remain unresolved until an external investigation into the Reyna Verhalter scandal and threats of abuse against other US soccer officials concludes.

Cohn wants the investigation to end quickly, but there is no clear timeline for when it will end. US Soccer has not given investigators a formal deadline in case they are forced to omit important details.

The governing body is also conducting an internal review of Burhalter’s work on the ground, with no deadline. I’m looking forward to it.

big game hunting

“Thanks to hosting [the 2026 men’s World Cup]we don’t qualify for the World Cup,” Batson said. [will be] Over the next three and a half years, in terms of competitive games?”

He repeated that point to a small group of reporters after walking off stage.

“We know that in a competitive environment, you have to fight good competitors,” Baston said. “We also know that other federations do things that make it difficult. are playing in a competitive environment.”

The challenge Batson mentioned was how much of the UEFA Nations League for European teams and South America’s World Cup qualifying marathons occupy the calendar for the world’s national teams.

But the impetus for finding a partnership was a message as bright as the lights overhead in the hall.

Within days of the USA’s World Cup defeat in Qatar, rumors began circulating about a guest invitation to the 2024 Copa America, the championship tournament for the South American national team. Mexico is also likely to participate.

There have also been reports of an extended tournament similar to the 2016 Copa America Centenario, hosted by the United States to great acclaim and great profits. On a larger scale, Canada and other important Concacafe countries will also participate.

And even more so if the US hosts it again, which also put chatter on the table. Intended host Ecuador said it would not be able to host the legacy version, and this helped open the door.

a meeting was held

Asked if he wanted to address the report, Batson replied, “Since there’s nothing to say, it’s easy.”

But he knew why he was sought after and even knew how to compose it for a local audience. I attended the game with my family who are huge Eagles fans.

“It was the first time my cousins took me to an Eagles play and I thought I was cool,” Batson said. “It’s clear that the Copa America is a tremendous asset and the South American teams are great…”

He paused before he could say too much. But the next question immediately came up. Would the US want to host?

“This is CONMEBOL [the South American confederation]Concacaf, final decision,” Batson said. Obviously, we know those parties, and we may or may not have been in Miami this week.

It pulled the cat out of the bag completely.

“We’re very aggressive about what we’re doing and Concacaf has been great,” says Batson. “They understand the challenges that Mexico, Canada and the US will face in terms of the competitive landscape over the next three and a half years. “

While it’s clear that the official announcement is still some time away, it’s also clear that fans should continue to pay attention.

“Nothing is final, so there will be some details in the coming months,” Batson said. We’ve been working on this for quite some time to be able to play against really good opponents on .

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