BREAKING: USSF says "figure it out boys" to USL and NASL

The USSF has refused to sanction both the USL and the new NASL for Div. 2 play in 2010. Instead, the organization has given the two sides seven days to come up with a solution.

The decision puts the 2010 season in doubt for both of Canada’s division two sides. The Impact and Whitecaps have played leadership roles in the new NASL.

However, Canadian officials have said that both clubs should remain eligible for play in Canada, even if they do not have a league to play in.

Earlier this month, CSA communications director Richard Scott said that the CSA could sanction both the Impact and Whitecaps if the dispute isn’t resolved.

“Every game played in Canada is sanctioned by the CSA-- even when TFC plays in MLS. (The Whitecaps and Impact) could play a barnstorming type tour under the sanctioning of the CSA next year if it came to it.”

Scott was careful to stress that the CSA was waiting for the USSF to make a decision on sanctioning the NASL and that it would make a decision to sanction the league itself after the Americans had concluded their investigation.

That position had not changed today, following the seven day ultimatum by the USSF.

“The important thing is to say that this is USSF decision and we will be looking to them,” Scott said about 30 minutes after the USSF’s decision was announced. However, CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli had yet to be fully briefed on the situation.

Scott said he would clarify the CSA’s position after speaking to Montopoli.

What does seem unlikely is the Canadian teams playing in an unsanctioned league. With the possibility of CONCACAF Champions League play there, the clubs will not want to risk playing in an outlaw league. Its players would not be eligible for international play.

That may not be as much of an issue for the U.S.-based teams. According to Inside Minnesota Soccer's Brian Quarstad, playing unsanctioned might be an option for the American NASL teams.

“The owners have so much invested in this that I can’t see them not figuring out something. It will either be through the USSF, or it will be something on their own,” Quarstad said.

The American-based teams are far less likely to be involved in international or CONCACAF play, thus making the decision to go unsanctioned less troublesome.

As much as the impasse is affecting the Canadian and American clubs, it’s likely that the biggest loser in this would be the Puerto Rican Islanders. The USL-1 club appears to have been caught off guard by the dispute and has remained loyal to the USL.

Islander blogger Kristian Vazquez says that he can’t see the Islanders making the jump to NASL.

“If, for some reason, the USL did not play I have a hard tome seeing them moving to NASL. They are so ingrained in USL.”

Vazquez says that it would be bad news for Puerto Rican soccer if the Islanders weren’t to have a league to play in next year.

“People often forget that the Islanders are more than just a club; they are an institution on the Island. It would be a disaster if they did not play next year.”

He rules out the possibility of the Islanders playing in the Puerto Rican league. Even if they were to take a step down to the local league, Vazquez says the Islanders would struggle to keep many of their current players.

He points out that the Islanders have failed once before and does not see the team lasting a season without a league.”

“It would really set Puerto Rican soccer back.”

There may be something else at play.

Kartik Krishnaiyer has covered USL soccer for many years. He has been at the forfront of this stoey since it first started to break last fall.

He is reporting today that the USSF’s decision could have as much to do with politics as it does with pragmatism. In particular Krishnaiyer suggests that the USSF is acting with the interest of MLS in mind.

He writes: “I believe the USL/TOA/NASL dispute cannot be viewed in a vacuum and must be analyzed in conjunction with the ongoing dispute between MLS players and the ownership/commissioner of the league. To me it is obvious the USSF is working on behalf of the MLS ownership in trying to ensure no player involved with the MLSPU has a domestic alternative in the case of a lockout.”

That position, that the USSF is acting to protect MLS interests, has been told to me by several sources close to the situation on both sides of the border.

The Vancouver Whitecaps office was closed for the holidays. As of this writing, the club had not responded to a request for an interview.

On Dec. 23, Bob Lenarduzzi said that the ‘Caps would not be speaking publically about the dispute until after the USSF had made a decision.

He did, however, say that the ‘Caps were happy with the progress of things.

The Montreal Impact had not responded to a request for an interview at the time of this writing.

The CSA had yet to release a statement as of 4:30 EDT.

Last updated at 4:45 p.m. EST.