Canadian Soccer Association general secretary Peter Montopoli did not rule out the possibility of the organization acting as the sole sanctioning body of the new NASL, but stopped short of suggesting that such a scenario was likely.
“It’s a bridge we’ve yet to cross,” Montopoli said after a press conference in Toronto Monday. “We are in weekly contact with the USSF (about the issue).”
Montopoli said that it was the CSA’s preference to wait for the USSF to make a decision on what to do about the NASL group before making a move.
“We are hopeful that the USSF will sanction the league, whether it’s called the NASL or something else,” he said. “Once that happens we invite the Whitecaps and Impact, and any other team looking to be a part of it, to approach us to be sanctioned.”
The CSA did not take part in a meeting between USSF officials and representatives of the NASL and USL groups this past weekend in New York. Although he said the reason for the CSA’s absence was because it was preparing for the press conference that named Stephen Hart as the full-time head coach of the senior men’s team, a Canadian soccer insider suggested that there was more at play.
“(The CSA) wasn't even aware that there was a meeting until (they were) sent a link (reporting on it),” the insider said.
That suggestion seems to correspond with other information that has been reported. The Puerto Rican federation was also left in the dark this weekend. It appears that the USSF did not invite any of the partner federations involved in the USL to the meeting.
There may have been a good reason for that. It was suggested to The 24th Minute that the meeting was never intended to reach a solution. Rather, it was a chance for the USSF to tell the parties that it was not happy with the current situation and not prepared to sanction the NASL at the current time.
One reason for that might be a fear of the USL taking legal action. Another source close to the situation in the U.S. said that the USL was “threatening to sue everyone at the table.”
Although Montopoli refused to call the situation the CSA’s biggest issue at the moment, others have said that the organization is very much concerned about the possibility of there not being a second tier league in 2010.
“He wasn’t happy,” an insider said of Montopoli’s mode after he spoke to the USSF today. “The NASL might be in big trouble. There may not be a NASL.”
Monday, December 7, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
He wasn’t happy,”[bold] an insider said [/bold]of Montopoli’s mode after he spoke to the USSF today. “The NASL might be in big trouble. There may not be a NASL.”
...is that responsible journalism? or are you just looking for a reaction from the NASL?
fuck off, lorn.
I was going to write something along the lines of Lorne Thomas, but he already did, so I will pass. Orthewise good to hear from the CSA.
What? To actually report what I know?
Sorry, I wasn't aware that I was supposed to suppress the news if it might cause someone to be uncomfortable.
My track record speaks for itself. I don't report it if I don't believe it. And, I'm usually right.
USSF in trouble should have been the title and you could have written something like this...
http://impact-soccer.blogspot.com/2009/12/ussf-in-trouble.html
Puerto Rican press reported that the president of the Puerto Rican Football Federation was on the meeting. He was quoted on friday, before he left to New York.
So you would rather I have not reported and instead opined in a way that placed all of the blame and pressure on the USSF, while ignoring the possibility that the USSF may not be willing to sanction the breakaway group.
No, Lorne, that would have been inaccurate. After this weekend, the NASL group finds itself in trouble. That is not to say they won't find their way out of it -- this is very much an evolving story -- but ignoring that because the Canadian teams are attached to that group is very much the opposite of "responsible journalism."
@6:45 -
Interesting. That's not what I heard. If that's the case then it's even more disturbing that the CSA wasn't there.
Link?
Duane, it is completely absurd that you did not write an article just like mine, look at mine for how you SHOULD have written yours!!! How dare you take a different viewpoint of the situation based on "sources"! -Lorne Thomas
A high placed anonymous source has told me, in secret, that the WORLD IS IN TROUBLE if an agreement is not reached in Copenhagen on climate change, and if this leads to increased global warming.
I have no idea who this Lorne Thomas is but I clicked on his blog and saw he couldn't even spell Sunil Galati correctly. hahah. (Sumar?????)
The USSF would be suicidal not to sanction the NASL. These are the people who finance soccer in North America. The USL has been revealed as a powerless paper tiger. No NASL now equals no DIV II soccer in the U.S.
About the Puerto Rico article, it's true - the brief note was in the Primera Hora newspaper, print edition. The president of the Puerto Rico soccer federation was talking about leaving for NY for those meetings alongside CSA and USSF.
I got in touch with him this weekend and he confirmed that he was in NY but couldn't speak of the matter.
Hey, bq here from IMS. I wrote and linked to you and Johnston today and tried to explain what Kristian wrote above. The report also has said the CSA was there but as you reported from yesterday, the didn't seem to know about the meetings. Odd, perhaps the USSF met with the PRFF previous to the USL and TOA meeting?
If NASL is "in trouble" and may need "bailing out" what does that make USL1? Dead as a doorknob?
Let's have some perspective here folks. The reason why USL is threatening to sue everyone at the table, is b/c they have no other recourse. They are out of the business of D2 soccer.
other Canadian news, sort of.
"Betting shops reported almost all money were picked up under the betting option "number of penalties". In theory, less than 0.1% of bettors would guess 4 penalties awarded in a match. Considering the amount of money lost, quite a few people were aware there would be 4 penalties awarded."
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/10636/2/
Now that St. Louis has unveiled its club name and crest (the name is great, the crest not so much), I can't see the NASL not moving forward, unless a backroom deal/understanding has been agreed upon with the USL.
Jeff, rule #33 in North American Soccer: "A Club can only control what it can control"...in other words regardless of the league it plays in, St. Louis needs to move forward with their own "house".
Post a Comment