NY Knicks Player Looks To Soccer Team Ownership Despite FIFA Scandal

NY Knicks Carmelo Anthony and soccer legend Pele in Cuba on June 2, 2015. (Twitter image)

News Americas, HAVANA, Cuba, Weds. June 3, 2015: A New York Knicks basketball star is seemingly unfazed by the global soccer scandal that rocked the world last week and is reportedly looking to ownership of a soccer team.

Reports indicate NY Knicks Carmelo Anthony is pursuing plans to either create a new team or buy a team despite the global scandal at FIFA and CONCACAF.

Antony, 31, whose has Puerto Rican roots, traveled to Cuba with the New York Cosmos as a “guest of the league,” for their historic match Tuesday against the Cuban national team.

There he met with Brazilian soccer legend Pele and tweeted: “So excited to be on this historic visit to Cuba with @Pele.”

The New York Cosmos are an American professional soccer club based in Hempstead, New York that has played in the North American Soccer League, the second division of North American soccer, since 2013. On Tuesday they defeated Cuba 4-1 in the soccer friendly match meant to promote better relations between the United States and Cuba.

A report from the website Empire of Soccer says Anthony, who earns about US$21 million, is exploring potential stadium sites for either a new team or to revive the Puerto Rico Islanders, which were disbanded in 2012.

The Puerto Rico Islanders are based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico and was founded in 2003 and the team had played in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.

The North American Soccer League (NASL) is a professional men’s soccer league with 11 teams — 9 in the United States and 2 in Canada. It is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as the Division II league in the American league system, under Major League Soccer (MLS) and above the USL (formerly, USL Pro). It is headquartered in New York City.