The President of Football Operations, Raúl Sanllehí, declared that participating in the highest South American competition organized by Conmebol is an “objective”

The arrival of Lionel Messi to the American continent to wear the Inter Miami shirt from mid-2023 raised a series of questions regarding the possibility of seeing him in a competition that brings together teams from South America. The president of Conmebol, Alejandro Domínguez , referred to this some time ago, and now a brand new leader of the Garzas has joined who does not give up on an ambitious goal: the Copa Libertadores

The new President of Football Operations, Raúl Sanllehí , was consulted in his presentation press conference about this opportunity and expanded on images collected by Claro Sports correspondent , José Armando. “Inter Miami’s global ambition and the historical value of the competition play a role. It is a goal, an ambition that we have, I return to the t-shirt’s motto ‘freedom to dream’ and why shouldn’t we have the freedom to dream about that too. It is a goal without a doubt ,” Sanllehí acknowledged.

In this way, the former Director of Professional Football of Barcelona whitewashed the intention to compete in the most important competition in South America. It should be noted that it would not be the first time that teams outside of Conmebol participate in the competition because the Mexican teams were there from 1998 to 2016 . As of 2017, it stopped coinciding with Concacaf’s own calendar because of the Concachampions .

In December 2023, Alejandro Domínguez expressed hope about having Lionel Messi as a great figure in a competition: “ I hope so, that’s what I can tell you. We are working with Concacaf to have a club championship, there has to be sporting merit but hey, there are things that take a little more time .” However, he clarified in a conversation with Deporte Total USA that it would be something different from the Libertadores: “ Yes, it would be relaunching the Inter-American Cup, but with more participation from teams from South America and Concacaf .”

The old version of the Inter-American Cup began in 1969, extended until the end of the last century and brought together the champions of each Confederation. Independiente was the top champion with three conquests, while only two teams won for Mexico ( Pumas and América ) and one for the United States ( DC United ).

On the other hand, Raúl Sanllehí was also excited about qualifying for the 2025 Club Super World Cup in an interview for EFE : “ It is a unique showcase and we are very interested in it .” It will always be very relevant. I was lucky enough to experience it and win it three times (with Barcelona), you really feel in a privileged position, to achieve international and global prestige, which is where Inter Miami is going. The vision that the owners have is that: to make a benchmark football club on a global level. It cannot be achieved in two days, but the World Cup is a goal that interests us very much .”

The great event that will take place in the United States already has different qualifiers, including River Plate , and there is a ticket that will be given to a guest from the host country, whose criteria have not yet been specified to choose which franchise will be the privileged one.

Finally, the President of Football Operations was questioned about the future of Inter Miami after Lionel Messi’s time at the institution: “ We are going to enjoy the moment we have. Obviously we are talking about the best player of all time, not only because of the goals he scores or the titles he has won. It is continuity over time. Never in the history of football has there been a player who has consistently been the best player in the world for so many years without dispute, so it is evident that there is a before and after and we are trying to have a general structure to evolve afterwards .”