Jérôme de Bontin, the new sporting director of the Red Bulls, is not a big fan of one of Commissioner Don Garber’s favorite projects: a new stadium in Flushing, Queens, for a the 20th team in the league, by 2016.

“I don’t mean to be controversial,” de Bontin told Fox Sports, then proceeded to be exactly that, “because I’ve just arrived. I know M.L.S. well. I’ve been supportive but critical of M.L.S. At times it fails to learn from its mistakes and is maybe misguide. Competition is good. Over time. A second team in New York would be a good thing, but today it’s probably premature. I wonder if market is mature.”

The sound of those jaws dropping came from league HQ on Fifth Avenue.

When Red Bull gained control of the MetroStars, M.L.S. wrested from it the territorial rights that would have precluded a second team from within a specific radius, believed to be 75 miles. And now that Garber, a Queens guy from Bayside, has his heart set on a stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, the Red Bulls new man on campus is not all that pleased.

“The league should learn from its own mistakes,” de Bontin said. “For example, in L.A. clearly a second team didn’t work out. Rather than supporting the idea of a second team in New York tomorrow, I would question whether if the league would be better served looking at Florida, Atlanta, Minnesota. Many parts of the country have no team and we might find surprises like in Pacific Northwest rather than forcing something too soon. It might be too early in New York where we don’t have the mature audience.” He was referring to continuing struggled of Chivas USA, which is sharing the Home Depot Center with the more popular Los Angeles Galaxy.

Video of the interview below:



Video: FOX Soccer Exclusive: Jerome de Bontin Part 1



De Bontin is a native of France who attended college in the United States, attending Amherst College with Prince Alberto of Monaco. After a career in business, de Bontin in April 2008 agreed to become the president of A.S. Monaco, the French Ligue 1 club in the Principality of Monaco. He also is a trustee of the United States Soccer Foundation and has many friends in American soccer.

M.L.S. has launched a publicity campaign in support of the new stadium in Queens, amassing community support with promises to build a 20,000-plus-seat stadium with adjacent fields to accommodate an area that has long called the tumbledown soccer fields of the park home.

It is not now known, however, what effect, if any, the local hardships imposed by Hurricane Sandy will have on the plans. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, nearing the end of his third term, sees the new stadium as potentially among one of his final accomplishments before he leaves office.

For M.L.S., it is difficult to gauge if Garber and the league, who usually play their cards close, are truly committed to the Queens stadium and adding a team in four years to the 19-team league, or if it is rather a way for Garber to plumb and to prod possible other expansion cities to move with more haste. Other than a second team in New York, potential expansion teams could land in Miami; Orlando, Fla.; Atlanta; Las Vegas; Minnesota and San Antonio.

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