(Bloomberg) -- Eager to move on from soccer's biggest corruption scandal, the sport's top officials in the Carribbean and Central America are considering a new name and logo for the regional body, according to President Victor Montagliani.
The group awkwardly known as the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, or Concacaf, was at the center of a sweeping U.S. Department of Justice investigation in 2015. It has since passed reforms and restructured, hiring former NBA executive Philippe Moggio as general secretary.
“Maybe the name is too long,” Montagliani told an audience at the Leaders Sport Business Summit in London. Whatever it's called, he said, the region should be awarded the next World Cup. He suggested the U.S., which last hosted in 1994, Mexico or Canada, or a tournament in several countries across the region.
The U.S. had been favorite to host the 2022 World Cup before losing to Qatar. That choice, and the one to grant rights to the 2018 event to Russia, ultimately led to the crisis at FIFA, Montagliani said.
“That was the starting point,” he said. “We would have the status quo. In some ways Qatar and Russia getting the World Cup was the best thing to happen to football.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Tariq Panja in London at tpanja@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Kevin Orland
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