Relevent suing FIFA over failed Barcelona-Girona game in Miami

Relevant Sports are suing the United States Soccer Federation for not granting them permission to host Barcelona vs Girona in Miami during last season's LaLiga campaign according to the Washington Post.

The company, owned by the Miami Dolphins Stephen Ross, has accused the USSF of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, which outlawed monopolistic business practices, and of tortious interference.

Relevant say that when they first proposed the idea of a LaLiga game in Miami, the USSF President Carlos Cordeiro told them they must first get the approval from UEFA and the Spanish football federation.

That approval never came with Luis Rubiales, the president of Spain's football federation, and Javier Tebas, LaLiga's president, fighting over the league's right to take the game to the US in the middle of a number of battles over how they felt Spanish football should be run.

Relevant have also taken issue with the fact that Cordeiro was unwilling to entertain the idea of opening Miami's door to the Copa Libertadores final after fan trouble meant it could not be hosted in Argentine. Madrid ended up being the venue for the final between rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate.

A similar lawsuit was launched after the USSF rejected Relevant's proposal to bring an Ecuador league game between Barcelona and Guayaquil on May 5 to Miami Gardens, Florida. The company said they planned on dropping that initial case but it is still pending.