Micah Richards, a former Manchester City defender, has pledged his support to New York City hosting a Champions League final.
Jamie Carragher, Liverpool legend hates the idea.
Richards was taking part in a US-themed Q&A session with fellow CBS Sports pundits Carragher and Arsenal great Thierry Henry.
Host Kate Abdo ran the ‘In the Mixer’ segment of the show where the pundits answered quick-fire questions with an American theme.
When asked whether NYC should host the Champions League final, Richards replied: “100 percent. Why not?”
Not everyone was on board with Jamie Carragher and Abdo against the idea to play the showcase European finals in a different continent.
The former Liverpool defender responded: “Because there’s no American teams in it!”
Abdo also weighed in saying: “Because it’s a European competition.’”
Richards then contested the pair replying: “It doesn’t matter. So?”
Carragher then proposed an alternative option saying: “What about having the Super Bowl in Liverpool?”
Henry, a former striker for the New York Red Bulls, was quiet throughout this period but insisted that the Super Bowl would not be held outside the United States.
It’s not the first talk of staging a major European game in the United States, with Stuart Pearce, talkSPORT: He supports the Premier League’s high-profile fixture abroad.
And he even proposed the north London derby – as long as it doesn’t add any more games to an already packed fixture list – saying a lot of fans may jump on board with the idea.
“You take a fixture out the calendar – Spurs v Arsenal – whichever one it may be, and go and play it in the [United] States.
“All our teams go to America, Australia and the far east in pre-season to spread the word of the Premier League and endorse the financial incomes of the football club.
“Unless we try these things we don’t know whether they’ll work or not. Try it to find out if it works. Some of the fans might utilise it as a holiday and go to New York.”
Last year, reports emerged that UEFA were pitching the idea of taking the Champions League final to the Big Apple as part of the competition’s revamp.
The 2024/25 season will see 32 to 36 teams compete. Each team will play eight matches over ten matchweeks instead of the current eight-team format.
Already, host cities have been assigned for the three next finals. Wembley will host in 2024, Munich in 2024, and Istanbul in 2023.
Beyond that, UEFA could look to play the game in the United States with New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium – home NFL franchises New York Giants and New York Jets – touted as a potential venue and international travel largely back to normal following the COVID-19 pandemic.
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