U.S. Soccer Fed Kicks Off With MasterCard

NEW YORK – Tapping into the soccer hype expected to be generated by the World Cup being held in the U.S. in 1994, the U.S. Soccer Federation will issue an affinity MasterCard later this year. Terry Weekes, marketing director for the U.S. Soccer Federation, said he expects to sign an agreement with a major credit-card issuer by the end of January. While Weekes would say only that his organization was talking to several major banks, creditcard industry sources confirmed that MBNA America Bank will be the issuer.