Cup Runneth Empty in Stands

The official attendance total for the Chivas-Aguila and Atlas-Atlante soccer games at the Coliseum on Sunday afternoon sounded more like a final score:

Nil, nil.

For the record, Chivas of Guadalajara shut out Aguila of El Salvador, 3-0, and Mexican League rivals Atlas and Atlante played to a 1-1 draw, but the only witnesses were a handful of newspaper reporters and photographers, security guards, team officials and event promoters.

This soccer doubleheader, billed as the opening round of Los Angeles Cup ‘97, was not open to the public. Four professional teams from Mexico and El Salvador played behind closed doors, for zero percentage of a nonexistent gate, because of iron-fisted autocracy on the part of the U.S. Soccer Federation or wishful naivete on the part of the Los Angeles Cup organizers--take your pick, or a sliver of both.

“This is a sad day for soccer,” said Eduardo Ostrogovich, president of Strategic Sports Group, the event’s promoter, as he stood outside the Coliseum press box watching the players from Chivas and Aguila boot the ball for the benefit of 90,000 vacant seats.

“A beautiful day, fine soccer--and no people. This is a sad day.”

The Los Angeles Cup became a vacuum over the issue of a permit. The L.A. Cup needed one for Sunday’s doubleheader, the USSF refused to grant one because it viewed the L.A. Cup as a threat to its own U.S. Cup, to be held later this month in Southern California.

The USSF issued two separate permit denials, on Dec. 17 and 24, but L.A. Cup organizers persisted until the final 24 hours before kickoff, holding out hope that the federation would capitulate at the last minute.

“We continued,” Ostrogovich said, “because if you check with the Coliseum, there have been many matches here denied initially and then, at the last minute, told, ‘OK.’ It happened last September with Chivas-Guatemala. That game, the permit came only a couple hours before kickoff.”

Yes, it did--and the issuance of that permit continues to stick in the USSF’s craw. The Chivas-Guatemala “friendly” match was played last Sept. 17, on the same day the Galaxy played host to the San Jose Clash in a Major League Soccer game at the Rose Bowl. Chivas-Guatemala drew in excess of 35,000; Galaxy-Clash only 14,179.

Alan Rothenberg, USSF president, considered the head-to-head booking a mistake. Since then, the federation has been vigilant in guarding against what it considers market “over-saturation.”

With the U.S. Cup--featuring the national teams of the United States, Mexico, Peru and Denmark--being played at the Rose Bowl and Jack Murphy Stadium Jan. 17-22, the USSF viewed the L.A. Cup as over-saturation and refused a permit.

Saturday, Ostrogovich and Coliseum officials scrambled for options. One was to play the games without a permit, which would have placed the Mexican and Salvadoran soccer federations at risk of sanctions by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body.

Another option was to play the games for no financial benefit--either letting in fans for free, or locking them out altogether.

“We talked very seriously about opening the gates and admitting the people for free,” Ostrogovich said. “If that was the case, that would have removed us from any ‘financial jeopardy’ against the U.S. Cup.

“We said, ‘OK,’ but we never got any response from the U.S. federation. Edgardo Codesal, who’s the head of the Mexican federation, thought it over for about an hour, but got cold feet at the end.”

Thus, the lockout.

No fans in the stands, to Ostrogovich’s way of thinking, equaled no violation of USSF or FIFA regulations.

“These are now just practice games,” Ostrogovich said.

For the competing teams, it was an expensive, extravagant way to get in a 90-minute workout. All four teams, according to Ostrogovich, had agreed to play at the Coliseum for a fee, which was tied to a percentage of the gate. No gate, no fee. Sunday, Ostrogovich said none of the teams would make money from their appearance here.

But the Coliseum and Strategic Sports Group will lose money--a “considerable” amount, according to Coliseum General Manager Pat Lynch.

“A lot of people lost a lot of money, not just us,” Lynch said. “Parking, concessionaires, advertisers, promoters--the ripple effect of a game is a very, very significant--and the fans, of course. The biggest losers were the Mexican fans and the El Salvador fans. If these fans have to rely on U.S. Soccer to give them what want, they’re going to be waiting a long time.”

Organizers had expected a crowd of 20,000 to 25,000 for the doubleheader, but instead had to station security guards at parking lot entrances to turn cars away or direct them to the Sports Arena box office for advance-ticket refunds.

“We had people coming and going all day,” Lynch said. “And, our phones were ringing off the hook.”

Tone of the phone calls?

“A little anger, a little disappointment, a little surprise,” Lynch said.

Ostrogovich said he planned no legal action against the USSF--”That’s not in the best interest of soccer”--but Lynch said, “It is going to be on the agenda at the Coliseum Commission’s Wednesday meeting, I can tell you that. We’re going to explore all options.”

Looking out again at 22 very lonely soccer players on the Coliseum turf, Ostrogovich shook his head.

“Strange feeling, isn’t it?” he said. “It’s unfortunate. In the country of liberty, there is no liberty.”