They are still the most recognizable USA soccer club worldwide but Major League Soccer President Don Garber said on Friday that the New York Cosmos will not be joining MLS as a third team in the New York area.
The Cosmos, which became world famous club during the 1970s when the likes of Pele and Franz Beckenbauer played in the old North American Soccer League, was reformed five years ago but now faces an uncertain future.
A crisis in the modern North American Soccer League (NASL), US soccer’s second tier, has prompted the Cosmos ownership to terminate the contracts of its players.
While Cosmos insist the franchise is still in business, it has no players and no stadium, and it remains little more than a brand.
Asked whether he could envisage a Cosmos team joining MLS, which already has New York City FC and the New Jersey-based New York Red Bulls, Garber was emphatic.
“We have two teams in MLS in New York, we are not going to have a third team.(The Cosmos) are going to decide to do whatever it is that they as owners of the trademark have the right to do,” he said.
Garber also fired a warning shot at David Beckham saying that the former LA Galaxy star does not have forever to launch a Miami MLS team.
“There is a deadline on the Miami deal, and I’m not going to share that deadline,” Garber said.
“It’s an agreement we have with David and Simon Fuller.
“But what I’ve said before, and I’ll say again here now – we need to resolve the Miami situation so we can go forward with our expansion plans and [teams] 25 through 28, because they’re team 24.
“And if they’re not going to be 24, then there are going to be things that need to move around.”