{"id":556513,"date":"2026-03-31T17:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T17:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/556513\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T17:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T17:06:11","slug":"don-garber-hits-back-at-egypt-executive-who-warned-salah-against-mls-move-mls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/556513\/","title":{"rendered":"Don Garber hits back at Egypt executive who warned Salah against MLS move | MLS"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an interview with the Guardian, MLS commissioner Don Garber suggested that the Egyptian soccer executive who urged Mohamed Salah to avoid the league<\/a> should watch Lionel Messi starring for Inter Miami.<\/p>\n

Garber\u2019s comments come after Egypt\u2019s national team director, Ibrahim Hassan, said Salah should stay in Europe when he leaves Liverpool as MLS<\/a> is \u201ctoo far out of the spotlight\u201d. Hassan later added that if Salah \u201cdoes not receive offers from Europe, then a move to the Saudi league would be a good option\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is an opinion Garber said he hadn\u2019t heard until being read the comments by the Guardian.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, that\u2019s the first time that I\u2019ve ever heard anything like that,\u201d Garber said when interviewed at league meetings in Sarasota, Florida, on Monday. \u201cLeo Messi is the most popular player in the world. He was, and he still is. I\u2019d be happy to send an Apple subscription to the head of the Egyptian FA so he can watch as many Messi games as he\u2019d like.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is far from the first time a senior soccer figure has questioned MLS\u2019s quality. In 2015, Sebastian Giovinco left Juventus and was an instant smash with Toronto FC, leading the once-moribund club to two MLS Cup finals. But in 2016 Gian Piero Ventura left Giovinco out of his Italy squads<\/a>, saying \u201che plays in a league that doesn\u2019t matter much\u201d.<\/p>\n

MLS has also proved a popular pick for veteran players trying to round into form possible ahead of World Cups. As Wales prepared for their first game at the 2022 World Cup, the team\u2019s manager, Rob Page, said Gareth Bale joining Los Angeles FC in the preceding summer had \u201cbeen the right move<\/a>\u201d for the player. Colombia\u2019s James Rodr\u00edguez is hoping<\/a> to replicate that feat with Minnesota United ahead of this summer\u2019s tournament, while Brazil goalkeeper J\u00falio C\u00e9sar<\/a> signed a short-term deal with Toronto FC before the 2014 World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that [Hassan\u2019s] point of view is very indicative of what MLS deals with as we develop as an aspiring major player on the world stage,\u201d Garber said on Monday. \u201cI can remember, not that long ago, Mexican national team coaches saying: \u2018If you\u2019re in MLS, you\u2019re not going to play for our national team.\u2019 That\u2019s not the case today. We have national team players that have played in Major League Soccer, and we\u2019ve got two or three players that are playing for Argentina and are playing in MLS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notably, two of Mexico\u2019s starters in Saturday\u2019s scoreless draw with Portugal developed in MLS academies: 20-year-old Obed Vargas (Seattle) and 22-year-old Brian Guti\u00e9rrez (Chicago). Both players were coveted US-Mexico dual nationals whose commitment to El Tri bolstered the team\u2019s pool of midfielders.<\/p>\n

MLS supplied the most players for the 2022 World Cup\u2019s squads of any league system beyond Europe\u2019s established big five, with 36 players being selected<\/a> while on MLS rosters and one more from third-division developmental MLS Next Pro.<\/p>\n

These days, the league is generally assessed to be within the world\u2019s 15 best by various metrics. As of 30 March, MLS is 13th in Opta\u2019s league power rankings<\/a>, between the top flights of Poland and Croatia, making it the third-highest circuit outside Europe after Liga Profesional Argentina (eighth) and Brazilian Serie A (ninth). Opta rates the Saudi Pro League as the world\u2019s 37th strongest league.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Hassan\u2019s comments show that longstanding perception issues around MLS\u2019s caliber remain. This week\u2019s CSO meetings are in Sarasota to complement the ongoing Generation Adidas Cup in nearby Bradenton. The youth tournament involved all 30 MLS academies among an 88-team field, with notable participants from beyond MLS\u2019s ranks including U-15 or U-16 teams from Barcelona, Boca Juniors and Bayern.<\/p>\n

As a result Garber, who has said<\/a> he would \u201clove\u201d to see Salah play in MLS, didn\u2019t struggle to back his response with evidence of the league\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just constantly dealing with this perspective that we, Americans, will never get it, and it\u2019s just not true,\u201d Garber said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got dozens of players [who came through MLS teams] playing in Europe. We\u2019ve got some of the best players in the world playing here. We have the best facilities if you put them up against any league in the world. We have a national team coach [Mauricio Pochettino], who has been on the world\u2019s stage, who believes in Major League Soccer. I\u2019ve been dealing with skepticism for 27 years. It\u2019s never stopped me, and it never will.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an interview with the Guardian, MLS commissioner Don Garber suggested that the Egyptian soccer executive who urged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-556513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-soccer","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}