The 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was spread across three venues in Southern California and set standards for chaos and disorganization that may never be equaled in the United States. At press conferences to announce the dates and venues for the 1998 event, officials from both CONCACAF and rights-holder Inter-Forever Sports steadfastly insisted such shenanigans will not be repeated. The ’98 Gold Cup will be played Feb. 1-15 at the Oakland Coliseum in Northern California, the Los Angeles Coliseum, and the Orange Bowl in Miami. All three stadiums will host first-round matches and the semifinals and final will be played in Los Angeles. “While going coast-to-coast puts a little pressure on us administratively, it serves also in a variety of purposes in enhancing the significance of this event,” said CONCACAF general-secretary Chuck Blazer. San Jose Clash president and general manager Peter Bridgwater will promote the games in Oakland, and the Los Angeles matches will be handled by long-time Southern California promoters Hugo Bandi and Paul Mendes. Inter-Forever will stage the games played in Miami, where its headquarters are located. Much of the blame for the 1996 problems fell on Global Sports, which had been hired by Inter-Forever to run the three Southern California venues. “They came aboard for the last Gold Cup,” said Blazer of Inter-Forever. “It was the first one we had worked together and we had to get a lot of bugs out.” Those bugs included organizational and logistical snafus that marred fine performances by several teams. The tournament nearly didn’t get off the ground due to a shutdown of the U.S. government that closed embassies and consulates in foreign countries, which prevented the proper visas from being issued to foreign players and teams until the last minute. “We sat through until that final weekend with serious doubts if there was going to be a Gold Cup at all,” said Blazer. Once the tournament did get under way, Brazil’s Olympic team dazzled until it ran into a waterlogged field and Mexico in the final. Mexico took the championship with a 2-0 win. The U.S. took third by beating Guatemala 3-0. For the 1998 Gold Cup, 10 teams will be divided into three groups. The U.S. is in Group 3 along with Costa Rica and the winner of a Caribbean playoff between Cuba and St. Kitts/Nevis. The winners in Groups 2 and 3 advance to the semifinals. In Group 1, the top two teams advance. (see box) American fans were angered in ’96 when they were unable to watch the U.S. games on English-language television nor on Spanish-language outlets Univision and Telemundo, since Inter-Forever had brokered the tournament’s TV rights to closed-circuit operators and cable/small-dish Spanish-language network Prime Deportiva, which is now Fox Sports Americas. Inter-Forever vice-president Stefano Turconi said his firm is negotiating with over-the-air networks as well as cable and closed-circuit outlets for the 1998 broadcast rights. by Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney