Dear Mr. Blatter:

It is hoped that you will read this open letter, as the reason for my letter is due to some comments you made on New Year's Eve about the MLS and World Football in America.

In an interview with world TV station Al Jazeera, you ended 2012 by criticizing Major League Soccer (MLS) and United States Soccer in general. You said that football has not left an impact on America in spite of the 1994 World Cup.

While respecting you and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), criticism of the MLS and football in the USA is unwarranted.

The reasons are many, but the following will suffice.

Cascadia Cup

Before talking about the Cascadia Cup, the definition of Cascadia is in order. Cascadia is the region which includes British Columbia (Canada), Washington State (USA) and Oregon (USA).

The Cascadia Cup includes the Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps. It has been played every year with the three clubs that belong to the MLS.

One of the matches of the Cascadia Cup was between Seattle and Portland on October 7, 2012. The venue was at CenturyLink Field located at Seattle, Washington.

The stadium was filled with 66,452 fans of both teams.While Seattle defeated Portland in this match, the real winner was the MLS and football in the USA.

FC Barcelona vs Chivas of Guadalajara 2011

FC Barcelona and Chivas of Guadalajara faced each other at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida. The event occurred in the summer of 2011.

The match was part of the series called the Herbalife World Football Challenge. It was an honor and a pleasure to attend the match.

While Chivas of Guadalajara defeated Barca, the winner was football in America. The match was attended by 70,080 people.

The attendance was the largest in the history of Miami and Florida. The match gave steam to the movement in favor of the MLS to South Florida.

Presence of Academies

The presence of academies dedicated to world football in America is growing. It is via these academies that will give rise to future players like Landon Donovan, Hope Solo, Jozy Altidore and Alex Morgan.

Conclusion

It is easy to compare football in America with the rest of the world. Maybe there should be changes in American World Football similar to those in Russia.

What should be remembered is that every country and region has their sports history. The history of world football in a particular country must be tailored to its reality.

I hope that you can visit the USA and see the development of world football for yourself. After your visit, you would then be able to better express whatever opinion you have.

Thank you, and best wishes from America.

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