Carmelo Anthony took the stand in a federal courthouse recently to deliver a heartfelt account of his unsuccessful attempt to launch a professional soccer team in Puerto Rico.
The 10x NBA All-Star appeared in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn on Jan. 22 to provide testimony on his investment into Puerto Rico FC, a professional soccer team he purchased in 2015 in the North American Soccer League. Anthony testified in the ongoing trial involving the NASL, the United States Soccer Federation, and Major League Soccer, recounting the three years he dedicated to building the team before operations were ultimately forced to shut down, The Athletic reports.
“I had an opportunity to revitalize the island, bring sports to the island,” Anthony said in court. “This was the route I chose to take to bring something back to my island.”
The trial stems from the NASL’s allegations that the USSF and MLS conspired to undermine the league’s ability to compete with MLS. According to the NASL, they were denied Division I and later Division II accreditation, which ultimately led to the league’s collapse. The NASL claims that the USSF had a vested interest in MLS due to Soccer United Marketing, the commercial arm of MLS that worked directly with the USSF.
USSF and MLS, on the other hand, contend that the league’s downfall was due to its business association with Aaron Davidson, a key NASL investor involved in the 2015 FIFA bribery scandal. They also point to the NASL’s failure to meet the necessary standards to qualify as a Division I or II league.
NASL attorneys brought Anthony in to testify in hopes of moving the jury and U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez with his testimony of the time, money, and resources he put into the failed Puerto Rican professional soccer team. The former Denver Nuggets player recalled his decision to partner with the NASL, the same league that housed the Puerto Rico Islanders, “the only team we knew,” Anthony said.
The NBA star was motivated to bring professional soccer to Puerto Rico, a native island to his paternal grandparents. But the team started in the 2016 fall season and was gone two years later.
Their progress was hindered by the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in September 2017, which destroyed the team’s stadium and left many staff members and players without homes, Anthony shared. Despite the challenges, the team managed to finish the rest of the 2017 season, with some games relocated to Florida. However, their ultimate goal remained to play in Puerto Rico, but “we couldn’t go back to the island,” Anthony said.
Amid the stress caused by Hurricane Maria, the USSF rejected the NASL’s application for Division II sanctioning for the 2018 season, leading the league to suspend its operations.
“It was just destroyed,” Anthony said of Puerto Rico FC. “The fact that we didn’t get the sanctions – that hurt us too.”
In its defense, Keisha-Ann G. Gray of Proskauer Rose, representing Major League Soccer, referenced Anthony’s previous deposition from several years ago. In that testimony, he stated that Puerto Rico FC was unable to return to the field due to Hurricane Maria, not because of the USSF’s denial of sanctioning.
However, Anthony shut down the defense, saying, “I didn’t get a chance to elaborate.”
The NASL is trying to demonstrate that the league’s failure was caused by the USSF’s denial of sanctioning, not by its inability to secure Division I status.
