Barcelona Pull Out Of MLS Franchise Bid

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Barcelona have pulled out of a bid to start a franchise team in Florida to play in Major League Soccer due to the current financial climate, the club have announced.

The Blaugrana were hoping to implement a new team in the south of the state for the start of the 2010 season, but have decided that it is no longer financially viable.

Work had been ongoing for the past couple of years as the Catalan outfit sought to strengthen their links in the United States and believed an MLS side would be the way forward.

Everything appeared to be in place before the global economic downturn put a major dent in the cost-benefit calculations, meaning that the cost of the venture and the likely profits made it difficult to pursue.

Barcelona have an agreement in place with the MLS for several joint projects and the first team have been on several pre-season tours to boost their image and that of the MLS.

"Major League Soccer, FC Barcelona and businessman Marcelo Claure have jointly agreed to not pursue the candidacy for Miami to have a new franchise in the expanding MLS," a Barça club statement said.

"After extensive talks and a joint evaluation, the decision was made because it is not viable at this time, due to the adverse market conditions, to start a new team in the south of Florida in 2010."

MLS agent, Don Garber, believes that Barcelona will still be a major player in the United States and will continue to work with the club.

"FC Barcelona is one of the biggest clubs in sport and is strategically very well placed within the industry and I thank them for the opportunity of working both with them and with Marcelo Claure over the past few months," he said.

Ottawa, Portland, St. Louis and Vancouver are the cities that will now compete to secure the franchise.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com