United States Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro said that no decision has been made on if the Gold Cup will continue after 2021. "The Gold Cup is only legislated for this year and 2021, so it could go on but it may not happen," he said, according to The Athletic. The tournament that pits CONCACAF nations -- composed of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean -- against each other every two years. The United States is primarily hosting the 2019 edition this summer in 15 venues across the country, with two group-stage matches being played in Costa Rica. The U.S. has served as host or co-host for the tournament since the current format was implemented in 1991. Cordeiro said there have been discussion about the North American countries joining their South American counterparts in a tournament. "There have been talks in the last year between CONMEBOL and CONCACAF on a kind of combined Copa America," he said, "but they haven't been able to come to an agreement on that." The United States is set to defend the Gold Cup this summer. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images In 2016, CONMEBOL -- South America's 10-nation federation -- invited four North American teams (the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Jamaica) in one-time version to celebrate the Copa America's centennial anniversary. The U.S. played host, with Chile beating Argentina in the final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2019 Copa America -- hosted by Brazil and with invited guests Qatar and Japan -- will largely coincide with the Gold Cup. Cordeiro also said the FIFA Confederations Cup is "done and over with." That tournament takes place one year before each World Cup as a test-run of sorts for the host nation, with the contentinental champions and defending World Cup holder participating. "In place of Confederations Cup there will be intracontinental playoffs to get to that 48-team [World Cup]," Cordeiro said. FIFA is yet to decide whether the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will expand to 48 teams. But Cordeiro thinks the Arab country will be hard-pressed to host that many sides. "Qatar has accepted that they don't have the facilities," Cordeiro said. "They have eight stadiums, but that's not enough to run a 48-team tournament."<doc-sep>United States Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro fully expects the CONCACAF Gold Cup to continue. (EFE) U.S. Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro raised eyebrows last week when, during the organization’s annual general meeting, he seemed to suggest that the CONCACAF Gold Cup could be scrapped within the next two years. “The Gold Cup is only legislated for this year and 2021, so it could go on but it may not happen,” Cordeiro said during the meeting in Arizona, according to The Athletic. Cordeiro clarified his comments to Yahoo Sports on Thursday, insisting that he hopes and expects the regional men’s championship tournament of North and Central America and the Caribbean to continue to be played for many years to come. “At U.S. Soccer’s annual general meeting, a question was asked about the future of the Confederations Cup,” Cordeiro wrote in a statement provided by U.S. Soccer. “After providing insight that the Confederations Cup would likely no longer be held in the future, a follow-up question was asked about how that might affect the scheduling of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. [ Follow Yahoo Soccer on Twitter and Facebook ] “My response was simply to indicate that the Gold Cup is at present in the international calendar for the next few cycles and was in no way a comment on the long-term future of the competition itself,” he added. “U.S. Soccer strongly supports the continuation of the Gold Cup, as well as CONCACAF’s steady commitment to the future of the tournament. As the signature event of our Confederation, the Gold Cup is a vital competition for our men’s national team and for all other Federations in CONCACAF. We are looking forward to competing in the championship this summer and well into the future.” Cordeiro’s statement comes two days after CONCACAF issued one of its own. The Gold Cup is the region’s signature event and a biennial cash cow, funding much the confederation’s other programming. “Following recent media reports, CONCACAF clarifies that it is fully committed to the CONCACAF Gold Cup and confirms that the 2019, 2021 and 2023 editions are part of the FIFA calendar,” the Miami-based governing body’s statement read. “Additionally, once the new FIFA calendar is produced after 2023, CONCACAF will continue organizing the pinnacle event of our confederation.” Story continues The 2019 Gold Cup kicks off in June. It will feature 16 teams, with games in 14 U.S. cities plus Costa Rica and a Caribbean nation to be announced. The USMNT is the defending champion, having beaten Jamaica in the 2017 final. Mexico has won a record seven Gold Cups since the tourney began in 1963. Doug McIntyre covers soccer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre. More from Yahoo Sports: • Jim Boeheim unlikely to face charges after fatal accident • How Zion’s shoe mishap hurts Nike • MLB video game makes girl ‘mad and upset’ • College coach accused of stealing underwear<doc-sep>US Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro says the Confederations Cup will not be staged again and the North American Gold Cup could be done after 2021 (AFP Photo/Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV) New York (AFP) - US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro says the FIFA Confederations Cup will not be played again and the biennial CONCACAF Gold Cup could be scrapped after 2021. Cordeiro made the comments in a report on The Athletic website after earlier remarks at US Soccer's annual general meeting. The eight-nation Confederations Cup has been contested every year before the World Cup since 2005, with continental champions and reigning World Cup champions joined by the upcoming World Cup host. But FIFA scrapped the event ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup given its winter scheduling due to extreme heat and Cordeiro says it won't return in favor of more playoffs ahead of an expanded World Cup. "It's done and over with," he told The Athletic. "In place of Confederations Cup there will be intracontinental playoffs to get to that 48-team (World Cup)." Cordeiro added that the Gold Cup, which features nations in the North American region and is mainly hosted in US venues in June and July, could be ended after this year and 2021. "The Gold Cup is only legislated for this year and 2021, so it could go on but it may not happen," he said. "There have been talks in the last year between (South American federation) CONMEBOL and CONCACAF on a kind of combined Copa America but they haven't been able to come to an agreement on that." Gold Cup organizers and regional governing body CONCACAF, in a statement Tuesday, said it is committed to the Gold Cup through 2023 and beyond. "Following recent media reports, CONCACAF clarifies that it is fully committed to the CONCACAF Gold Cup and confirms that the 2019, 2021 and 2023 editions are part of the FIFA Calendar," the statement said. "Additionally, once the new FIFA calendar is produced after 2023, CONCACAF will continue organizing the pinnacle event of our confederation."<doc-sep>
In the wake of comments by U.S. Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro that cast doubt on the future of the Gold Cup, CONCACAF released a statement indicating it remains committed to putting on the confederation's championship and said the 2023 edition is already part of the FIFA calendar. Speaking to the Athletes Council at the USSF's Annual General Meeting last weekend, Cordeiro appeared to indicate that the future of the Gold Cup is uncertain, especially now that the Confederations Cup is expected to no longer be held. "The Gold Cup is only legislated for this year and 2021, so it could go on but it may not happen," he said. CONCACAF has long stated that it needed to hold the Gold Cup every two years in order to fund other programs such as youth tournaments. On Tuesday, CONCACAF released a statement saying that it intends to continue with that approach. "Following recent media reports, CONCACAF clarifies that it is fully committed to the CONCACAF Gold Cup and confirms that the 2019, 2021 and 2023 editions are part of the FIFA calendar," the statement read. "Additionally, once the new FIFA calendar is produced after 2023, CONCACAF will continue organizing the pinnacle event of our confederation." The Gold Cup is a biennial tournament, and for much of the Confederation Cup's existence, the first edition of the Gold Cup in a World Cup cycle determined CONCACAF's representative. It was only during the last cycle that the format changed, with the two most recent winners - in this case in 2013 and 2015 - playing in a one-game playoff to determine who went to the 2017 edition of the Confederations Cup. In that match, Mexico defeated the U.S. 3-2 in extra time and ended up finishing fourth in the 2017 Confederations Cup. Cordeiro added that CONCACAF and CONMEBOL have been in talks to stage a combined Copa America similar to the edition hosted by the U.S. in back in 2016 to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the tournament, but the two confederations "haven't been able to come to an agreement on that."