Asked about the rumours saying that that Barcelona president Joan Laporta and general director Joan Oliver travelled the United States last week to hold talks on the creation of a sister team in the US (read more here), a Barcelona spokesman has confirmed in an interview with Florida regional newspaper The Miami Herald that Laporta and Oliver were in Miami exploring the market but stressed that talks of starting a team in the United States are still in the preliminary stages.Laporta and Oliver would also have visited New York and are weighing a few East Coast cities.
South Florida regional newspaper Sun Sentinel claims that the five-year strategic partnership agreement that Barcelona signed in May of this year also gives Barcelona the opportunity to explore ownership of an MLS team and doesn't exclude that Barcelona will also visit other cities than Miami.
Asked about the matter, Miami FC president Aaron Davidson has denied to the paper that Barcelona officials have spoken to his club or to football event management company Traffic Sports, the owners of Miami FC: "I don't know anything about it. I don't know where it started, I don't know where it's going, but I do love the idea. We have a lot of surprises up our sleeve, but this is not one of them."
MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche did not want to enter the question if Major League Soccer (MLS), the professional football league in the United States and Canada, has met with Laporta and Oliver last week: "We meet with Barcelona regularly, but I would prefer Barcelona to address any interest in an MLS expansion team or specific markets."
Miami FC fansite Miamisoccerfan claims that a meeting did take place last week between a very interested investor and MLS in Miami. The meeting also involved some other local parties that are interested to join in. It couldn't be confirmed if the investor was in fact Barcelona or Miami FC.
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