The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup committee decided at their January 6, 2023 meeting to implement VAR (Video Assistant Referees, what is known as instant replay in other sports) for the Semifinals and Final starting this year. At this same meeting, the committee also decided to cover all referee costs for the tournament, increasing the hosting fees to cover these new costs.
All committee meeting minutes are publicly posted after approval. The important contents of the January 6, 2023 meeting minutes are as follows. You can read the whole thing here under “Jan. 6, 2023.”
Committee member resignation and replacement
Brett Luy, the Division II/DIvision III pro representative on the committee, resigned on November 9, 2022, after taking a new position as president of Rhode Island FC, an upcoming expansion team into USL Championship. A replacement was then named at the January 19, 2023 meeting of the US Soccer Board of Directors. Jake Edwards, president of USL, was added to the committee at that meeting and will serve out the rest of Luy’s term.
2023 Tournament Structure
The U.S. Open Cup staff presented the proposed 2023 tournament structure, which ended up largely unchanged from 2022. The committee was alerted that a schedule waiver may be required for some expansion teams at the next meeting. All three expansion NISA teams require this waiver due to missing the schedule deadline, along with starting their season within 7 days of their entry into the Open Cup.
Referee payments handled by U.S. Soccer
Referee match fees and payments will be made centrally by U.S. Soccer and not by the teams at time of the match. Hosting fees will be increased to cover these fees. The committee discussed the financial implications to teams. Once the handbook is released to the public, we’ll report how much the hosting fees have increased for this year’s tournament.
Adjustment to Prize Money Rule
After Sacramento Republic’s amazing run, U.S. Soccer has adjusted their prize money rules so that a team may win both the prize as the furthest advancing team in a lower division, plus the money for being a champion or a finalist. Sacramento Republic only received $100,000 as runner-up last season, and forfeited the $25,000 prize for furthest advancing Division II team. A team in their position in the future will win both prizes now.
VAR in Semifinals and Final
The committee voted unanimously to implement the use of VAR for the semifinals and final, with discussions to continue in the future regarding expansion.
Disciplinary Jurisdiction
Leagues have asked for clarification regarding their ability to discipline participants and fans for conduct around Open Cup matches. The committee requested that staff draft an updated policy to reflect that while the Open Cup Adjudication & Discipline Panel is the primary disciplinary body that leagues may issue discipline to their member independent of any action taking by Open Cup.