NOAH DAVIS – Yesterday, USA 10 Kit (along with many other sites) pointed out the news that FIFA.com listed a friendly between the United States and Colombia on the international fixtures and results page. Although the match had been rumored for a couple weeks, there was not – and still hasn’t been – any confirmation from the US Soccer Federation. Additionally, FIFA listed the game being played in New York, which now appears to be false.

This is the second time an American friendly has appeared on the site of the sport’s governing body before the USSF officially announced the match. (US-Poland was the first.)

I wondered why FIFA would put up matches that haven’t been officially announced – especially when some of the information appears wrong – so I got in touch with Neil Buethe, senior director of communications. He said the US has communicated with FIFA in the past about the issue and suggested I contact to the media department.

They responded by quoting a disclaimer from the website – “FIFA’s information does not stem solely from official information from the associations or confederations, but also from third parties (media, private individuals). FIFA can therefore not vouch for the accuracy of the data in every case (especially regarding friendly matches). However we make it our duty to constantly verify unofficial data.”- before adding something interesting:

Information on friendly matches in particular is often not easy to find, and is many times not published by the official sources in advance. FIFA therefore relies on selected third-party sources which are generally accurate, but occasionally the information is incorrect and therefore has to be modified.

In this case, it’s possible that FIFA saw an article on Colombia’s website listing the match in New York and ran with it. From what I can tell, the match will happen in October but somewhere other than Gotham. In other words, FIFA was half right. Its website no longer lists the location of the match.

For what it’s worth, the teams have played 10 times since 1990, with the US winning two, losing six, and drawing a pair. Here are some highlights from the 1994 World Cup victory.

by noah