Category: pro soccer

podcast, pro soccer, women's soccer, youth soccer

RSD18: U.S. Soccer presidential candidate Mike Winograd

Posted on by Beau Dure

He doesn’t have the name recognition of Eric Wynalda, he hasn’t been in the U.S. Soccer inner circle like Carlos Cordeiro, and he hasn’t been campaigning as long as Steve Gans. But Mike Winograd is an interesting candidate for the USSF presidency. He’s a former player, he helped launch a pro club, and he’s a lawyer who works on very big deals.

In our conversation (starting around the 10-minute mark after I ranted a bit about the NASL lawsuit and gave an overview of the presidential election), we talk about Winograd’s background and his plans, which he outlined in a prior interview at GotSoccer. His basic mode of operation: He wants to get everyone on the same page — or, as he puts it, rowing in the same direction.

Key quote: “U.S. Soccer should not be in the business of trying to ram things down people’s throats.”

Particular points of interest: How to get the WNT and MNT equal or equivalent, depending on what each team wants (35:00), and addressing cost barriers in youth soccer (40:00).

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pro soccer

Dissecting the TFC-NYRB halftime kerfuffle

Posted on by Beau Dure

The video we have from the Toronto tunnel doesn’t tell us much. But let’s see what we can figure out:

0:17 — Is this a tent? It looks like footage from a wedding gone horribly wrong.

0:20 – Sacha Kljestan (NY No. 16) meanders into the frame along with phenom Tyler Adams (NY No. 4) and someone wearing No. 67, who is not identified on the Red Bulls roster. Is Adams old enough to be involved in this?

0:23 – Jozy Altidore (TFC) somehow is pushed back from the scene.

0:27 – A loud “Woooo!” Perhaps cross-promotion for the upcoming 30 For 30 on Ric Flair? (And yes, I’m embarrassed to recognize that sound.)

0:42 – How many people are in this tunnel? Bradley Wright-Phillips (NY) passes through like he’s just looking for the bathroom.

0:45 – Michael Bradley (TFC captain) is attempting to be the voice of reason with Jesse Marsch (NY coach) but is distracted by something behind him. Meanwhile, Toronto keeper Alex Bono wanders through as if to remind people not to mess with him because only goalkeepers can use their hands.

0:48 – Security guides Wright-Phillips away. Perhaps, as CCR once sang, there’s a bathroom on the right.

0:55 – Cameo appearances for NY’s Gonzalo Veron (No. 30) and Daniel Royer (No. 77).

0:56 – As Soccer America reported, Bradley appears to be yelling at Marsch, “Why are you here?” The rest of it appears to be directions to the visiting locker room. It’s been a while since I’ve been to BMO — are the tunnels that confusing?

1:00-1:45 – Some stereotypically polite Canadians have taken control and are trying to point the Red Bulls toward their locker room. Someone else is yelling the occasional f-bomb as if to deflate the notion of stereotypically polite Canadians.

1:45 – A kid who sounds like he’s about 7 years old yells, “This is OUR house!”

1:58 – A finger.

I still don’t know what Marsch was doing there.

 

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pro soccer

NASL v USSF: Meet the nine people at issue in conspiracy claim

Posted on by Beau Dure

 UPDATE: The judge denied the NASL’s request for an injunction, and the independent actors within USSF were indeed a key factor: 

Also, the Board is certainly demonstrating some independence now, seeking a special meeting on “U.S. national team coach hirings,” though it appears USSF CEO Dan Flynn has convinced everyone to wait until the regularly scheduled early December meeting, given the multitude of things USSF is handling at the moment. See Michael Lewis’ stories on the request and the delay.

ORIGINAL POST …

Expanding on a point I made 12 days ago …

If you believe U.S. Soccer’s lawyers, the NASL has to prove that nine members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors are conspiring to keep down the Cosmos and whoever else is still in the league.

From Brian Straus’ SI story on the suit:

conspiracy

The nine in question would be the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors minus the following:

  • The Recused: Sunil Gulati (former MLS employee), Don Garber (MLS commissioner), Carlos Bocanegra (MLS player-turned-technical director), John Collins (USL counsel; at-large Board member), Steven Malik (owner of North Carolina FC, currently but reportedly not much longer an NASL member)
  • The One in Favor: John Motta (USASA president, former USSF VP)

Which leaves …

Carlos Cordeiro, vice president: A former Goldman Sachs man brought onto the board in 2007 when it reorganized to include independent directors (people who don’t come onto the board through their various affiliations — state associations, USASA, U.S. Club Soccer, MLS, NWSL, etc.). He defeated incumbent Mike Edwards to become vice president in 2016, and just today (Nov. 1), he announced that he will run for president.

Chris Ahrens, Athletes Council: The 2012 Paralympian is also an adapted PE teacher. His upbeat Twitter feed deserves more followers.

Angela Hucles, Athletes Council: Needs no introduction to women’s soccer fans who remember the 2008 Olympics, in which the longtime utility player suddenly turned into a goal-scoring machine in Abby Wambach’s absence. She’s also one of those overachievers — broadcaster, U.S. Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year, former Women’s Sports Foundation president, etc.

(Athletes are required by the U.S. Olympic Committee to have 20% of the vote, so they have three on the 15 Board slots. The third is Bocanegra’s.)

Richard Moeller, Adult Council: Vice president of the USASA, which governs adult (mostly amateur but with a smattering of semipro teams) soccer in the USA. He’s also the president of the Florida State Soccer Association. He is not the Rich Möller who coaches in Maryland.

(Motta, the USASA president, is the other Adult representative. Note that the Pro Council had no voters — Garber and Malik are its two reps.)

Jesse Harrell, Youth Council: Chairman of U.S. Youth Soccer and a longtime administrator from South Texas. Also a State Farm agent for nearly 35 years.

Tim Turney, Youth Council: Past president of the Kentucky Youth Soccer Association.

Donna Shalala, independent director: Remember the Clinton Administration? She was in that — Secretary of Health and Human Services. She went on to be president of the University of Miami for 14 years and left to run the Clinton Foundation. She suffered a stroke in 2015 — perhaps not coincidentally, she missed several Board meetings. And this tweet after the apocalypse in Trinidad was interesting:

Val Ackerman, independent director: I’ve only met two of the nine people listed here. Hucles is obvious — I covered that team. I met Ackerman in, of all places, the USA TODAY cafeteria. She was president of the WNBA at the time. Now she’s the commissioner of the Big East.

Lisa Carnoy, independent director: The newest Board member joined in August. She’s a banking executive and vice chair of the Board of Trustees at Columbia, which happens to be where Gulati teaches and where the soccer field is named for key USSF accuser and Cosmos owner Rocco Commisso.

It’s worth mentioning that Gulati has been involved in the search for each independent directory. By USSF bylaws, the president serves on the Nominating and Governance Committee. If you go back through Board minutes, you’ll see that Gulati (and others) worked with consulting firms to find people for these spots. You can also see that ethnic and gender diversity were key factors — the Board has never had a white male independent director — which seems only sensible given the general lack of diversity in the Board’s other positions.

Many of the same Board members — Cordeiro, Ahrens, Harrell, Turney, Shalala and possibly Ackerman (who joined either just before or just after that vote) — participated in the vote to approve the NASL’s provisional Division II sanctioning for the 2017 season.

Also worth noting: The Pro League Task Force, which makes recommendations on sanctioning, is currently composed of Cordeiro, Ahrens and USSF CEO Dan Flynn.

If you want some professional analysis of all this, check out Steven Bank’s epic Twitter thread. The impression I get is that the judge isn’t seeing a concerted action to do anything other than deny the NASL the Division II sanction it hasn’t earned. But I’m not the least bit sure about that, and there’s certainly a chance that the judge wants to hear more. Would she issue the injunction just to toss the NASL a lifeline until everything else can be heard?

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podcast, pro soccer

RSD17: Adding tiers to the U.S. soccer cake, with NPSL’s Jef Thiffault

Posted on by Beau Dure

Jef Thiffault is the managing director for the NPSL, an elite amateur league that’s been sometimes pulled into promotion/relegation discussions. But he used to work for MLS and SUM.

Mind blown yet?

It’s actually an encouraging discussion that gives the impression that we have some smart people in U.S. soccer, toiling far away from the courtrooms and big-league boardrooms. And we might see a sea change in elite amateur competition that just might spill upward to the pros.

Interview begins around the 10:30 mark after I give a long introduction and rant a bit about the NASL and so forth.

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pro soccer

Not Another Soccer Lawsuit: NASL-USSF, Halloween hearing edition

Posted on by Beau Dure

I’m not going to try to write something coherent out of all the accounts of today’s NASLpalooza in a New York courtroom.

First, I’m going to send my hopes for speedy recoveries for those injured and comfort for those who mourn after today’s senseless attack in Manhattan. I’m going to suggest we look into simple ways to make public spaces safer — bollards would help in this case — without resorting to outrageous racial and religious scapegoating or some sick fantasy that “good guys with guns” can stop this sort of thing from happening.

Then, I’m going to direct you to some first-hand accounts:

  • Michael Lewis, who has covered all leagues called NASL, has a summary.
  • Chris Kivlehan, writing for Midfield Press, has what you might call a play-by-play.

And you’ll want to follow Miki Turner, who has an advantage over most of us in that he’s an attorney. Another advantage: He has the transcript.

So what I’m really doing here is leaving a few breadcrumbs to find our way back through the Labyrinth. Or something like that. In simpler terms, I want to capture a few thoughts before the day is done.

1. The “USSF has no right to regulate squat” apocalyptic vision is probably moot.

And that’s good because I think USSF lawyers may have missed an opportunity to point out that there’s a difference between “amateur” as defined in most of the world (someone who is not paid to play) and “amateur” as clumsily redefined in the USA’s Stevens Act when someone realized a lot of Olympians are now raking in the dough.

Another thought on that topic (“they” here refers to NASL legal team):

So legal nerds hoping for The Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe and Whether the Stevens Act Covers Professional Leagues might have to wait until the inevitable suit against some other National Governing Body. (If I were making odds, I’d say it’ll happen in rugby. Or volleyball.)

If you want a bit more on this, here’s Midfield Press: “Judge Brodie asks for clarification on whether Sauer (USSF lawyer) is taking the position that Congress has given USSF the authority to regulate professional soccer.  Sauer clarifies that the Stevens Act does not limit their authority.  Sauer traces the USSF’s authority from the Olympic charter, from which FIFA draws its authority.  USSF is recognized by FIFA.  “Bottom line” is that USSF believes it has the authority to govern pro soccer and the Stevens Act does not limit it.”

And finally …

2. I’ll never understand why Jeffrey Kessler gets into soccer lawsuits and tosses out things that are easily refuted by anyone with a shred of outside knowledge (such an opposing counsel).

In Fraser v MLS, we actually had people arguing about whether the Premier League and The Division Now Known As The Championship are equal or whether the bottom three teams in the Premier League are sent down. (See pages 318-321 here, then pages 421-425 here. It actually reached a point of absurdity — page 2190 onward — at which Kessler was forced to backtrack from an assault on the credibility of one Sunil Gulati, who is once again involved in this case and seems to be Kessler’s white whale.)

Today, he brought up the sad story of a family upset over the prospect of losing the San Francisco Deltas. It didn’t take USSF lawyers long to point out that the Deltas’ survival ain’t at stake in this courtroom.

3. Judge Margo K. Brodie has done a remarkable job getting up to speed on soccer.

From the Midfield Press account: “(Kessler) suggests that no other FIFA affiliated federation in the world has standards like USSF’s PLS.  Judge Brodie suggests that is because soccer in those other countries is the number one sport, which is not the case here in the United States.”

Do you hear that, Soccer Twitter?

And she seems like one of those stereotypical New York judges from Law & Order who makes the lawyers behave.

4. I still don’t have a good handle on when this case will discuss whether the NASL can reasonably have D2 status.

We know from earlier filings — and from the reporting by Midfield Press and Nipun Chopra — that the NASL is grabbing some NPSL teams and flinging them up the pyramid to bolster their numbers. Follow-up info on that front is redacted, but it was discussed in court today:

Coincidentally, the Ranting Soccer Dad podcast posting tomorrow morning is an interview with NPSL Managing Director Jef Thiffault. We refer to the clubs considering an NASL move, but given the pending legal action, don’t expect a ton of detail.

5. I have no idea who’s going to win.

Or at what stage. Would the judge grant an injunction, giving the NASL a stay of execution, only to grant the USSF’s Motion to Dismiss, which is following a separate schedule and will take a few more weeks to discuss? I’ve heard convincing arguments either way, and I can’t pretend to be a lawyer.

I can tell you from a journalist/historian’s point of view, the NASL side has piled on more arguments that set off my b.s. detectors. They have eight teams — no, wait, make that 14, even though it’s well-established that a couple of these teams aren’t likely to return, and several others are currently playing before crowds of hundreds (when reported) in the NPSL with amateur players. They made bold claims about competing with MLS well before they were ready to do so, and now that they’ve declined, they’re blaming the system. They could’ve differentiated themselves from MLS by creating the promotion/relegation system they claimed to support, and not long ago, NPSL was interested in doing that. NASL pushed them away, only to latch onto a few NPSL clubs now.

If I were an NASL fan — and if I lived in Indianapolis or Puerto Rico right now, I would be — I’d be embarrassed by this insistence on propping up a brand name instead of joining up with NISA or regrouping some other way in Division III and working back up.

But that doesn’t mean they’re wrong, legally. It doesn’t mean they can’t convince a judge who appears to be quite reasonable that they should be given, like Delta House after the Faber parade, just one more chance.

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pro soccer

No, HERE’S how you re-organize the MLS playoffs

Posted on by Beau Dure

Here are the problems with the MLS playoffs, in no particular order:

  1. Too much randomness, making the “league champion” whoever’s hottest for a few games rather than the whole season.
  2. Not enough advantage for the higher seed.
  3. The first leg of a two-leg series is often excruciating.

I’ve seen suggestions for a single-elimination tournament, but that just steps up the randomness. I’ve seen suggestions to bring back the “first-to-five” series, which means each series could be two or three games. And Brian Straus has preserved the group-stage idea he first floated at AOL in 2010.

My proposal remains: Use the Page Playoff system that works so well in curling, Australian football and a few other competitions.

In each conference:

FIRST ROUND:

  • 1 vs. 2 — winner to final, loser to semifinal
  • 3 vs. 4 — winner to semifinal, loser out

CONFERENCE SEMIFINAL: 1-2 loser vs. 3-4 winner

CONFERENCE FINAL: 1-2 winner vs. semifinal winner

Then you can have MLS Cup. Maybe it’s a single game, or maybe it’s the two-leg series I floated at The Guardian last year with one game at the higher seed’s home ground and one at a neutral site. (I’m a little less wedded to that idea in a 28-team MLS in which the schedules will be even less balanced than they are now.)

If you want to get fancy, you could mix the conferences for the conference finals — the East 1-2 winner plays the West semifinal winner and vice versa. That avoids a repeat matchup.

So you get:

  • Serious incentive for every place in the top four.
    • First place gets home field in the 1-2 game and gets a second chance if it loses round.
    • Second place gets a second chance if it loses in the first round, and it will host either the semifinal or the final.
    • Third place hosts the 3-4 game.
    • Fourth place just makes the playoffs.
  • A little less randomness than a straight single-elimination tournament.
  • No games like the game we won’t mention from last night.
  • It all goes relatively quickly. If it’s a one-leg MLS Cup, it’s four gamedays — first round, conference semis, conference finals, MLS Cup. If it’s two legs, just add one game.

So that’s solved. Next, we’ll figure out fun ways to keep the middle of the table engaged …

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pro soccer

Can the NASL take a free ride on what MLS has built?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Hold your horses, MLS haters. This is an actual question in NASL v USSF.

Steven Peterson, an economist who specializes in part in antitrust issues, is a U.S. Soccer expert witness in this case. He bases part of his response (p. 22-26) to NASL expert witness Stefan Szymanski on the concept of “free riding” — basically, having one entity take advantage of resources created by another, thus diminishing those resources. Investopedia ties that concept to the “tragedy of the commons,” something we all slept through in grad school.

Szymanski argues that U.S. Soccer can’t accuse anyone of “free riding” because their mission as a nonprofit is to create that rising tide that lifts all boats.

szy-free-ride

On first glance, I thought Szymanski had a good point. But now I see two problems with it:

  1. It’s not U.S. Soccer’s job to allow one commercial entity to free-ride off another. In fact, it’s USSF’s job to prevent that. (Peterson actually explains all that.)
  2. The “tragedy of the commons” analogy holds true here. The classic example is green space overgrazed by livestock until there’s nothing left. In soccer terms, that would be having too many entities dividing up the same small market.

Whether that’s enough of an argument to outweigh other antitrust concerns, I don’t know. I’m starting to wonder if USSF really wants one and only Division I league — call it a conspiracy if you like, or call it a legitimate “tragedy of the commons” concern — but can’t say so because of antitrust law.

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pro soccer

Home sweet home: Keep the Crew in Columbus

Posted on by Beau Dure

Photos courtesy Steve Sirk unless otherwise noted. He wrote the book on the Crew.

Dear MLS owners, especially the one in Columbus (I mean, Austin or San Francisco) …

You may be asked in the next year to decide whether to put an MLS club in Austin. That’s a great town, of course. From Austin City Limits to SXSW, Austin has long been right up alongside Nashville, New York and Los Angeles as one of the country’s music capitals. I’d even have to rank it ahead of my hometown, Athens.

So if you want to figure out how to expand to Austin, that’s great. Find ownership. Find land for a stadium. Easier said than done, sure, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

The problem is this — the club that you may be asked to place in Austin already has a home.

Lamar hard hat

See the man in the hard hat? That’s Lamar Hunt. He built that club. He paid for their stadium to be built. When one location was shot down, he stopped by a local McDonald’s and stared at a map, figuring out the next place to try until they found it. Read Steve Sirk’s account.

Yes, the club is the Columbus Crew. Note the first word: Columbus.

Maybe you didn’t know Lamar Hunt. He passed away 11 years ago. MLS has seen rapid expansion since then.

And so maybe you don’t understand why MLS is in Columbus in the first place. It’s a smallish city with a giant university known for American football, American football, and a marching band that dots the “i” before each American football game.

MLS is in Columbus because the club’s founders sold 12,000 season-ticket deposits before the league existed. It’s in Columbus because they built the first stadium whose primary tenant would be an MLS club.

And it’s not the only soccer team that has proudly made that stadium its home stadium …

 

Mapfre-stadium-hosts-USA-Mexico 11-11-2016
Rick Dikeman, Wikipedia Commons: USA-Mexico, Nov. 11, 2016

 

Dos a cero. Dos a cero. Dos a cero. Dos a cero. USA over Mexico. Four World Cup qualifiers. No, it didn’t happen again this time around, but blame Jurgen Klinsmann and his disorganized team, not the fans.

And this stadium hasn’t just hosted World Cup qualifiers. It hosted an actual World Cup.

So how, exactly, has this stadium suddenly become obsolete for MLS games? This isn’t RFK Stadium in Washington, which has plenty of history but looks like it’s about to collapse at any moment.

The reviews of this place are, in fact, quite positive. So is the atmosphere. Check out the “mini-Nordecke,” where kids are literally learning how to grow up and be the supporters MLS craves.

Mini Nordecke

Oh, it’s not downtown, like your wonderful Cascadian paradises? For a lot of Crew fans, that doesn’t matter — they’ll gladly pay $15 to park and tailgate. If you prefer English traditions, allow me to share one from my travels: If you go to a match at Reading’s Madejski Stadium — like Mapfre Stadium, not downtown, a couple of miles from a university — all you need to do is take the train to Reading Station and hop on the F1 bus. We stayed in London (near Arsenal, actually) and had enough time to grab a nice snack as we worked our way back through bus and trains back to our Airbnb place.

Which is cheaper — running a few buses from favorite downtown watering holes or relocating a team to a city that seems a little ambivalent about finding a stadium for it?

Not convinced you can have a competitive team in a town that might not attract the best Designated Players? You may have missed out on Guillermo Barros Schelotto, one of the most skillful players ever to grace an MLS field. He came to Columbus in 2007 and … didn’t hate it.

A lot of players love Columbus. See the mini-Nordecke above? The guy who started it is Frankie Hejduk. He’s the walking embodiment of a California surfer dude. But when he came back to MLS after a stint in Germany, he went to Columbus, and it’s fair to say he liked it.

If you really, really want a downtown stadium, fine. Keep working with the folks in Columbus. Maybe it’ll happen at some point.

In the meantime, may I remind you that the Columbus Crew have a stadium? The team, which just upset Atlanta in the MLS playoffs, seems happy. The fans are happy. If you can provide a few more amenities to make them happier, great.

No, you might not get 40,000 people to each game or 70,000 to the occasional big one. It’s not Seattle or Atlanta. Guess what. Neither is Austin.

And if you want to go to Austin down the road — or San Antonio or even Miami — what message do you think it sends to abandon the first stadium built by and for an MLS club? You think they’re going to bulldoze a few blocks downtown and chip in a few million to help you build it?

The most convincing argument you can make on behalf of Major League Soccer is that it’s stable. That’s an accomplishment in a country where the history and sociology are not on your side. You’ve made it through 21 years with only three teams going under, and few people shed tears at the demise of Chivas USA. Leaving San Jose was controversial, but that team was in dire need of a stadium and local investment, and now you have it.

If we were talking about a club that averaged less than 10,000 fans by any reasonable attendance count, had no stadium that looked like it could survive until 2020 and was generally unloved by anyone, fine. Move that club to Austin. But you’re a victim of your own success here. You don’t have any clubs meeting that description. Not even Colorado, where fans sometimes wonder if the owner even remembers that he owns the team. (Hey, I don’t know the name of every investment I own. Some sort of mutual fund?)

If you move the Crew, you undermine Major League Soccer’s major achievement — building a fan base for the long term.

And that’s what you signed up for. This isn’t the old NASL, where a bunch of rock stars thought it’d be cool to have a team and go party with Pele at Studio 54. This is a league that’s built to last. It’s why the dude who wrote the book about you called that book Long-Range Goals. (Honestly, he was never wild about the subtitle.)

You want to toss all that away and leave one of the most important cities in U.S. soccer history? Fine. You’re going to create a lot of EPL fans. Maybe even some fans of NASL or NISA or whatever survives the legal system and U.S. Soccer’s sanctioning process.

I haven’t been to many MLS games in recent years. Nothing personal. It’s youth soccer and women’s soccer, in that order. D.C. United only has a couple of home games each year I can attend.

But maybe I’ll spring for a “flex pass” or something. I empathize with the nice guy who’s been calling me from the front office. Cold-calling is one of the worst parts of being a journalist, and we’re actually offering people a chance to speak. Gotta be tough when you’re asking people to hand over money.

It’s about time D.C. United got its own stadium. I still refuse to set foot in Nationals Park because Major League Baseball extorted more than $600 million out of Washington’s government. I can go to Audi Field with little hesitation.

But while the Crew’s owner flirts with Austin, I find myself having a bit of trouble finding my wallet.

I’m guessing I’m not the only one.

Think about it.

Cheers,

Beau

 

 

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podcast, pro soccer, youth soccer

RSD16: Kevin Payne (U.S. Club Soccer) shatters simplistic suggestions

Posted on by Beau Dure

Fix the pay-to-play system! Make U.S. clubs pay and receive solidarity payments and training compensation! Get Sunil Gulati out of U.S. Soccer!

Not so fast.

Today’s guest is Kevin Payne, currently the U.S. Club Soccer CEO and previously an executive with D.C. United, AEG, and Toronto FC. He also has plenty of experience within U.S. Soccer in a variety of roles, including membership on the Board of Directors.

He’s here to tell you the pet solutions we toss around on Twitter are either (A) not so simple or (B) totally missing the boat. The interview starts at the 7:20 mark, after a brief rant on the state of MLS, the NASL, USL, NWSL and maybe even QSL. (Yes, I miss shortwave radio.)

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pro soccer

Timeline: How did NASL-USSF dispute come to this?

Posted on by Beau Dure

(This WILL be revised and updated. Suggestions welcome.)

I’ve read many of the court filings in the NASL-USSF lawsuit and U.S. Soccer Board of Directors minutes dating back to 2011. A few other sources are mentioned here and there.

So here’s a timeline of what I was able to reconstruct, plus a few explainers:

WHO’S WHO:

Sunil Gulati: Seriously? Google. USSF president since 2006, VP for six years before that, former Kraft Soccer (New England Revolution) employee, one of the founders of Major League Soccer but dismissed by original commissioner Doug Logan.

Dan Flynn: USSF CEO/Secretary General. Basically, top paid employee on the org chart. Had a heart transplant in April 2016.

Carlos Cordeiro: Retired from Goldman Sachs in the early 2000s. Elected as an independent director (someone not affiliated with youth, adult or pro) to the USSF Board of Directors in 2007, then unseated Mike Edwards to become vice president in 2016.

Linda Cardenas: Executive assistant at USSF since 2011.

Mike Edwards: Long-serving USSF vice president (replaced Gulati when he became president in until election loss in 2016.

John Motta: Former USSF vice president (defeated Gulati in 1998, then lost rematch in 2000). Adult Council rep to USSF Board since 2013. President of U.S. Adult Soccer, which governs soccer in the USA that is neither youth nor pro. (Though a few pro teams play in USASA-affiliated leagues.)

Alec Papadakis: USL CEO since 2009. Pro Council rep to USSF Board in 2015 and 2016.

Aaron Davidson: Former chairman of NASL and former president of Traffic Sports. Pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and wire-fraud conspiracy charges in October 2016.

Bill Peterson: NASL commissioner from 2012 to January 2017. One of the key figures in repositioning NASL as unlikely standard-bearer of traditional soccer, including promotion/relegation (though never making concrete proposal), and insisting upon NASL’s Division I ambitions.

Rishi Sehgal: NASL executive now serving as interim commissioner.

Jeffrey Kessler: High-powered sports lawyer who has been very successful in landmark cases in other sports. In soccer, he represented the U.S. women for a short period in their labor dispute with the USSF and unsuccessfully led MLS players in lawsuit challenging league’s single-entity model from 1997 to 2002.

Mark Frisch: Former Jacksonville Armada (NASL) owner

Brian Helmick: San Francisco Deltas (NASL) CEO

Rocco Commisso: Bought New York Cosmos in early 2017. Had promising relationship with Gulati (both tied to Columbia University) but is now leading figure in several actions against USSF.

WHAT’S WHAT:

BOD: U.S. Soccer Board of Directors

D1, D2, D3: Division I, Division II and Division III

PLS: Pro League Standards, developed and administered by U.S. Soccer, voted on by BOD (those affected generally recuse themselves from vote). See the 2014 (current) version; a 2015 draft revision was not approved.

PLS Task Force: Meets to discuss PLS. Current composition.

Pro League Task Force: Examines each pro league and recommends to the BOD whether or not to renew their annual sanctions as D1, D2, D3. The BOD doesn’t always take their recommendations. Current composition.

USSF D2: A stopgap league in 2010, when teams were splitting from the USL and forming NASL.

Traffic Sports: Marketing firm that once ran four NASL teams and was later at epicenter of FIFA/CONCACAF investigation. See Aaron Davidson.

CITATIONS

Gulati Dec: Sunil Gulati’s declaration in support of U.S. Soccer’s reply to NASL lawsuit. This is cited a lot because so much of it establishes a timeline.

Ex (1, 2, 3 …): Exhibits from U.S. Soccer’s reply. Some of these are also in the NASL’s filing and are noted as such.

BOD Minutes: U.S. Soccer Board of Directors Minutes

TIMELINE

Pre-history: In 1993, the USSF awarded Division I sanctioning to the group that devised Major League Soccer. That group includes then-USSF president Alan Rothenberg, who was elected with the mandate of solidifying the USA’s 1994 World Cup organizing efforts and forming a Division I league. The vote was not unanimous — MLS got 18 votes, the existing second-division APSL got five, the rule-changing League One America got zero.

In 1995, the USSF came up with a set of Professional League Standards that would remain in place until 2008.

The APSL remained Division II and eventually merged with the USISL, a fast-expanding league that operated two tiers of pro soccer (D2 and D3) along with an amateur league now called the PDL. The USISL later simplified its name to the USL. The league briefly experiments with promotion and relegation but backed away because more teams were “self-relegating” for economic reasons. Founder Francisco Marcos sells shares in the league to Umbro, which ends up with 94% of the league before Umbro itself is sold to Nike, which inherits ownership of the league in early 2008.

Full histories of the USISL/USL: Philly Soccer Page, Inside MN Soccer.

2008

Sept. 24, 2008 – BOD Minutes: BOD approves new PLS.

Throughout 2008 – The Team Owners Association (TOA) forms among several disgruntled team owners in the USL. The leaders include Aaron Davidson (Miami FC and Traffic Sports) and Jeff Cooper, a St. Louis attorney who had been trying to bring MLS to St. Louis, was on the board at English club Brentford and was launching St. Louis Athletica in Women’s Professional Soccer.

2009

Aug. 27, 2009 – (See sources above): Nike sells the USL to NuRock Soccer Holdings, led by Rob Hoskins and Alec Papadakis. The move is a shocker — the league had seemed all but sold to Cooper.

Nov. 10, 2009 – Goal.com report: Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, a not-yet-playing St. Louis team and Vancouver Whitecaps announce plans to split from USL. The new league applies for D2 status.

Nov. 21, 2009 – BOD Minutes: Nothing is mentioned about the league split, though the BOD did have an executive session. MLS’ D1 status is renewed, WPS’ women’s D1 status is renewed with conditions, and the BOD hears updates on the Major Indoor Soccer League (not yet part of USL), USL1 (D2) and USL2 (D3).

2010

Jan. 8, 2010 – Soccer America: With neither the NASL or the remaining USL clubs convincing USSF to award them D2 status, the Federation takes the unusual step of running its own league, brokering a one-year deal to take the nine NASL-leaning clubs and three USL-leaning clubs into the short-lived-by-design USSF D2 league. The breakaway teams have already seen some changes — Atlanta is on hiatus, Minnesota is under new management, and FC Tampa Bay and Crystal Palace Baltimore have joined in.

Feb. 5, 2010 – BOD Minutes: USSF update on plans for the USSF D2 league AND plans to appoint a blue-ribbon panel to review the PLS. The plan: In May through July, visit teams to make sure they’re meeting D2 minimum standards AND publish new standards. At August BOD meeting, evaluate new applicants for D2.

May 20, 2010 – Brian Quarstad (IMS): Crystal Palace Baltimore in deep trouble. St. Louis, with former NASL interim commissioner Jeff Cooper at the helm, in deeper.

May 27, 2010 – Soccer America: Saint Louis Athletica, sister team to AC St. Louis, folds midseason, sending players like Hope Solo and Shannon Boxx into a dispersal draft.

Aug. 10, 2010: BOD Minutes: “President Gulati updated the Board on a meeting with all of the D2 team owners and the proposal to change the D2 Professional League Standards. President Gulati informed the Board that the proposed D2 Professional League Standards had been proposed by the Blue Ribbon Professional League Standards Task Force and that the proposed standards had been reviewed with the D2 owners. It was MOVED to adopt the revised D2 Professional League Standards. The motion PASSED.”

See the standards. At the time, I thought they were designed to keep anyone from playing D2. But the NASL embraced them.

Nov. 21, 2010: BOD Minutes: MLS renewed as D1, WPS renewed as D1 with conditions. USL PRO accepted as D3. NASL not mentioned (executive session?) but received provisional D2 sanction. (See Brian Quarstad story below — Jan. 25.)

2011

Jan. 19, 2011 – St. Louis Post Dispatch: AC St. Louis officially folds.

Jan. 20, 2011 – NASL statement: USSF BOD withdraws provisional D2 sanctioning because of failures to comply with standards. Losing St. Louis probably didn’t help. (No minutes posted for BOD meeting, which likely means entire meeting was executive session.)

Jan. 25, 2011 – Ex 13: Brian Quarstad (IMSoccer News) talks with Aaron Davidson after USSF withdrew D2 sanction (for now.)

February 2011 – Ex 14: NASL D2 application.

Feb. 11, 2011 – BOD Minutes: USL Pro gets a waiver because four of its 15 teams will be outside USA. No mention of NASL, but see next day.

Feb. 12, 2011 – Brian Quarstad confirms: NASL gets provisional D2 sanctioning for 2011.

March 28, 2011 – David Downs, an industry veteran with ABC, Univision and the USA World Cup Bid Committee, named NASL commissioner. (Aaron Davidson is CEO.)

April 2011 – NASL begins first season as an independent D2 league. Continuing from USSF D2: Carolina RailHawks, NSC Minnesota Stars, Fort Lauderdale Strikers (formerly Miami FC), Montreal Impact, Puerto Rico Islanders, FC Tampa Bay. New: FC Edmonton. Returning from one-year hiatus: Atlanta Silverbacks. Gone: Austin Aztex (moved to Orlando), Vancouver Whitecaps (moved to MLS along with fellow D2 club Portland Timbers), Crystal Palace Baltimore, AC St. Louis.

2012

March 3, 2012 – Brian Quarstad: NASL gets full Division II sanctioning at USSF Annual General Meeting. Only one change for 2012 season: Montreal moves to MLS, replaced by San Antonio Scorpions. Minnesota is renamed Minnesota United. FC Tampa Bay reclaims the Rowdies name.

June 10, 2012 – Neil Morris (2015 story, WRAL Sports Fan): With half its clubs either owned by Traffic Sports or propped up by the league, Downs and NASL owners sit down for a meeting with MLS officials, with whom they had been negotiating for months for an affiliation partnership. NASL chairman Davidson says NASL is walking away from negotiations.

June 12, 2012 – New York Cosmos join NASL for 2013. The brand name had been dormant from 1985 until 2010, property of one Peppe Pinton. When Pinton sold the club name, it relaunched and played an exhibition game with a team of guest players. Saudi company Sela Sport bought the team in 2011 and negotiated with MLS but opted instead for the NASL.

Oct. 5, 2012 – Downs resigns as NASL commissioner.

Nov. 27, 2012 – Brian Quarstad: Bill Peterson — like MLS commissioner Don Garber, a veteran of NFL Europe and then a member of the MLS Board of Governors — officially announced as NASL commissioner.

Dec. 1, 2012 – BOD Minutes: MLS, NASL, USL all get renewals at D1/D2/D3 without incident. Minutes say MLS had “waiver,” NASL had “waivers.” USL waivers not mentioned. PLS also being reviewed because USSF is trying to launch women’s league (NWSL).

2013

Feb. 17, 2013: BOD Minutes: NASL gets waiver on number of teams for 2013 spring season only. Puerto Rico was taking a one-year hiatus, dropping the league to seven teams until the Cosmos started for the fall season.

Nov. 18, 2013 – Ex 9: Flynn memo to leagues on PLS (includes draft standards) – also NASL Ex 34.

Nov. 27, 2013 – Ex 10: NASL response to Flynn letter. Peterson’s four points are: Letters of Credit (says the dollar figure is too high), Roster Limitations (unclear what he’s asking), Reserve Leagues (seeking clarification), Pro/Rel (can we talk about it?). Gulati notes Peterson did NOT challenge time-zone standard.

Dec. 8, 2013 – BOD Minutes: Gulati says PLS Task Force has sent new draft to teams for review. Also, all four pro leagues’ sanctions renewed. MLS gets waivers on field size and coaching licenses. NWSL gets waivers on field size and stadium seating. USL gets waiver on field size. No NASL waiver mentioned.

2014

Feb. 28, 2014 – BOD Minutes: USSF Board approves new PLS. Also, BOD resolves dispute between MLS and NASL on apportionment of Pro Council votes. MLS gets 9, NWSL 3, NASL 1, USL 1. This resolution good for only one year.

April 12, 2014 – NASL season kicks off with 10 teams. Indy Eleven (with former Chicago Fire GM and USSF Board member Peter Wilt as president) and Ottawa Fury are the new teams.

December 7, 2014 – BOD Minutes: Little discussion at annual renewal — all four leagues renewed, subject to waivers. Also, Gulati asks Pro Council to meet again to discuss voting apportionment.

2015

Feb. 13, 2015 – BOD Minutes: Garber presents unspecified allocation of Pro Council votes. Board accepts.

Feb. 23, 2015 – Ex 15: Peterson letter to Gulati thanking him for meeting and expressing desire for more pub from USSF PR department, also saying he wants NASL to play at highest level

Feb. 24, 2015 – Ex 16: Gulati response – thanks Bill, talk soon

April 4, 2015 – NASL goes to 11. New season includes 10 returning teams plus Jacksonville Armada.

May 20, 2015 – Ex 20-21: USA indicts a whole lot of people, including several from Traffic (and Traffic itself). Among them: Aaron Davidson.

May 31, 2015 – Ex 17: NASL glossy presentation for D1 (BOD meeting that day, but not mentioned in minutes)

June 24, 2015 – Ex 12: Flynn memo to leagues on PLS (includes draft of 2015 standards). This is controversial one. It would’ve raised minimum number of teams at inception from 12 to 16 (D1) and 8 to 12 (D2).

July 23, 2015 – Ex 18: Kessler warning shot to Gulati, Flynn and PLS Task Force

July 27, 2015 – Ex 19: USSF counsel Lisa Levine rips Kessler but still offers to move forward and talk.

Sept. 30, 2015 – Gulati Dec: USSF meets Kessler and NASL. Much reiteration of positions. Also, USSF presses NASL on Traffic.

Oct. 29-30, 2015 – Ex 22-23: Back and forth traffic between USSF to NASL about Traffic

Oct. 30, 2015 – Ex 24: Peterson to USSF with a plan to get D1 status now and comply with D1 standards by 2026, and oh by the way, antitrust.

Nov. 6, 2015 – Ex 25: USSF to NASL – OK, we’ll call that an application for waivers, and by the way, Traffic.

Nov. 10, 2015 – Ex 26: Peterson re: Traffic — we’re on it! Really! Get off our backs! And why didn’t USSF tell us Aaron Davidson was suspended by FIFA!

Nov. 11, 2015 – Ex 27: USSF to Peterson: You needed US to tell you about Davidson?

Nov. 15, 2015 – Ex 28: Rishi Sehgal, then the NASL director of business development and legal affairs, on Traffic

Nov. 20, 2015 – Ex 29: NASL provides 2015 annual report. Requests waivers from D2 standards while also applying for D1

Nov. 23, 2015 – Ex 30: Peterson to Flynn, demanding to press D1 case to Board and Task Force

Nov. 24-Dec. 1, 2015 – Ex 31-33: Some wrangling over a USSF/NASL meeting because the threat of litigation is looming

Dec. 5, 2015 – Gulati Dec: Pro League Task Force of Cordeiro, Mike Edwards and Dan Flynn meets with NASL and counsel

Dec. 6, 2015 – BOD Minutes: All four pro leagues approved, subject to waivers.

Dec. 8, 2015 – Ex 34: Pro League Task Force to NASL: Thanks for meeting with us Dec. 5. Look, we’re still concerned about Traffic and your stadia.

Dec. 21, 2015 – Ex 35: Kessler to Pro League Task Force: Quit whining about Traffic. Footnote: Hey, you don’t want us to talk about Gulati’s relationships with Jack Warner  and everyone else, do you? Here’s your requested info about Traffic, and you’d better discuss our D1 application at the next Board meeting in January.

2016

Jan. 5, 2016 – Ex 36: Russell Sauer of Latham and Watkins to Kessler: Thanks for the info about Traffic. Where’s the rest of the league info you promised? If you want to make a presentation to the Board on Jan. 13, fine — let us know who’s coming by Jan. 7.

Jan. 13, 2016 – Gulati Dec: Board meeting. NASL states D1 case. Must be executive session, because there’s no mention of NASL on the BOD Minutes.

Jan. 15, 2016 – Gulati Dec: USSF asks NASL for more info

Jan. 21, 2016 – Ex 37: Rishi Sehgal on behalf of Peterson, to Flynn and everyone else: OK, we met — now can we move this along and get D1? The delay is unlawful.

Jan. 25, 2016 – Gulati Dec: USSF tells NASL the Board will talk about D1 application at next meeting in March

Feb. 29, 2016 – USSF Annual General Meeting, notable for independent director Carlos Cordeiro winning three-way race for VP.

March 3, 2016 – Ex 38: Peterson to Cordeiro: Congratulations! Now will you please either quit making divisional assignments or give us D1?

March 8, 2016 – Gulati Dec: USSF Board meets and rejects D1 status for NASL. BOD Minutes again have no mention of this, though they mention an update on USL’s application for D2 status. Also, Flynn gives update on pro futsal league.

March 9, 2016 – Ex 39: Cordeiro to Sehgal (please forward to Peterson): Thanks, but I don’t appreciate this sort of lobbying.

March 10, 2016 – Ex 40: Cardenas to Peterson: Non-recused members of the Board (non-recused) have non-recusedly agreed to non-recusedly not give your league D1 sanction, non-recusedly. USSF is still willing to help NASL get to D1 someday, non-recusedly. (Also NASL Ex 41)

April 2, 2016 – NASL kicks off spring season, still with 11 teams. San Antonio and Atlanta were out. A new Miami FC and Rayo OKC, affiliated with Spanish club Rayo Vallecano, join. Puerto Rico FC joins for the fall season to round it up to 12.

April 28, 2016 – BOD Minutes: Short teleconference with two orders of business, the second being to replace Flynn on the Pro League Task Force “because of a pending application.” Brian Remedi is named to replace him, and Cordeiro is named chair.

May 19, 2016 – BOD Minutes: Application to have Puerto Rico play NASL is approved.

July 8, 2016 – Gulati Dec: USSF again asks NASL about Traffic

July 13, 2016 – Ex 41: Sehgal to Levine: Still working on separating Traffic’s investment

Summer 2016 – Gulati Dec 173-174: “Contrary to the intimation in the Complaint that the USSF was looking to destroy the NASL, I expended a lot of time and energy over the balance of 2016 in an effort to save the NASL — which was beginning to fall apart. // During the summer of 2016 I had several discussion with Bill Peterson, the NASL’s Commissioner, during which he sought to engage, not on the elimination of professional league classifications or the denial of Division I status, but rather on developing a path for the NASL to come into compliance with the existing Division I standards.”

Aug. 23, 2016 – Nipun Chopra/Four Four Two and NewsOK: Rayo OKC minority owner Sean Jones removes half of the team’s artificial turf. Suffice to say things weren’t going well.

Sept. 8, 2016 – Ex. 42: Peterson emails Cordeiro and Motta, copying Gulati, asking to engage with the Pro League Task Force in connection with the USSF Board meeting scheduled for Sept. 23.

Sept. 8, 2016 – Ex. 43: Cordeiro tells Peterson the next Board agenda is quite full, but if you’ve made progress, please let us know. Peterson’s response: “So, dialogue is not an option for NASL and soccer progression in usa, clearly pass/ fail? Disappointing. Same for everyone?” Gulati is not amused.

Sept. 21, 2016 – Gulati Dec: Gulati meets with reps from MLS, NASL and USL to sort out “issues and disagreements.” Then Tampa and Ottawa jump to USL.

Sept. 22, 2016 – Ex 44: Jacksonville owner Mark Frisch seeks meeting with Gulati, who agrees. Peterson was not copied on the email.

Sept. 23, 2016 – Gulati Dec: USSF Board meets. Talks about USL but no decision. This isn’t mentioned in BOD Minutes — must have been executive session.

Sept. 23-24, 2016 – Ex 45: Peterson emails Gulati to say “I believe this group of NASL owners will deliver what you’re looking for. We’re a long way removed from the breakaway and Aaron Davidson days.” Gulati: “Thanks Bill. Hopefully we can find a sensible way through the current situation.”

Sept. 26, 2016 – Did Frisch and Gulati meet? Frisch said he would bring other owners.

Fall 2016 – NASL in crisis. Gulati 181-182: Some teams going to USL (D3 pushing for D2), others stopped operating due to financial losses (which, Gulati says, would likely have been worse in D1). Gulati and others push to save the NASL and explore merger with USL. Then he helped bring in Commisso.

Oct. 25, 2016 – ESPN FC: Tampa Bay and Ottawa move from NASL to USL.

Nov. 2, 2016 – Gulati Dec: Gulati meets with a group of NASL owners.

Nov. 23, 2016 – Gulati Dec: Gulati in conference call with NASL owners to discuss expansion

Nov. 30, 2016 – Gulati Dec: Gulati meets with reps from NASL and USL, possibly to do another USSF D2 league. USL declines, “but not for my lack of trying.”

November 2016 – Ex 47: NASL provides Annual Report as part of application for D2 (not D1). Gulati Dec: Gulati says they acknowledged issues in Fort Lauderdale but not in New York.

Dec. 4, 2016 – Ex. 46: USL sends term sheet to NASL clubs — actually a response to one sent by Carolina, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Miami, Puerto Rico and San Francisco.

Dec. 5, 2016 – Gulati Dec: Pro League Task Force meets to consider all leagues. USL withdraws D2 request. NASL can’t nail down number of teams posting performance bonds, so Task Force holds D2 application in abeyance

Dec. 6, 2016 – Gulati Dec: USSF Board delays NASL discussion at NASL’s request. Also tables USL’s D2 application. Again, not mentioned in BOD Minutes, which only make vague reference to updates on MLS and NWSL.

Dec. 14, 2016 – Ex. 48: USSF to NASL, asking league to provide Pro League Task Force with a list of teams participating in 2017 and confirmation that they have posted performance bond.

Dec. 14, 2016 – Brian Straus (SI): Cosmos on the verge of accepting a private investor’s offer to buy brand and shut down the club.

Dec. 15, 2016 – NASL reply: SUM bids $5 million for Cosmos brand, rights to likenesses, etc., with agreement to shut it down for at least 10 years.

Dec. 18, 2016 – Ex. 49: NASL says they have six. Maybe nine. And more than six talking for 2018!
– Gulati Dec: NASL asked for extension of Dec. 19 deadline to provide info; USSF pushes back to Dec. 28

Dec. 28, 2016 – Ex. 50: Helmick (SF Deltas) texts with Gulati and suggests collaborating and combining schedule with USL.

Dec. 28, 2016 – Ex. 51: NASL responds to inquiry. They have eight teams, including league-owned Jacksonville (what happened to Frisch?) and the Cosmos. Many waivers needed. (Gulati Dec also notes news reports saying Peterson likely out as commissioner.)

Dec. 29, 2016 – Gulati Dec: Pro League Task Force conference call. Gulati listens but doesn’t participate. Task Force tentatively decides not to recommend NASL for D2 for 2017.

Dec. 29, 2016 – Gulati Dec: USL files revised D2 application.

2017

Dec. 30, 2016-Jan. 1, 2017 – Gulati Dec: Bunch of Pro League Task Force conference calls. Dec. 30 just USL, and Task Force tentatively decides not to recommend USL for D2. But then separate conference calls with both USL and NASL on the 31st. Gulati again listens in but doesn’t participate, as he also does Jan. 1, when the Task Force again recommends against D2 for either league.

Jan. 2, 2017 – Ex. 52: Gulati emails only the non-conflicted members of the Board (NOT Garber, Papadakis, Collins or Agoos, BUT Mattsson, Dr. Bob, Cordeiro, Ahrens, Cone, Flynn, Nunez, Harrell, Motta, Turney, Shalala) to tell them Task Force has unanimously recommended against D2 but reminding them it’s the Board’s call. Board meeting set for Jan. 6; meanwhile, Gulati and Flynn will keep working with leagues toward “our goal of promoting — in a stable way — the professional development of the sport below Division 1.”

Jan. 3, 2017 – Ex. 53: NASL (Sehgal) confirms it has finally terminated all relationships with Traffic.

Jan. 4, 2017 – Gulati Dec: NASL reps meet Gulati in NYC (some by phone). “(T)he NASL owners focused their energies on trying to convince me that, absent a Division II sanction, the league would disappear which would be bad for the sport.”

Jan. 5, 2017 – Gulati Dec: USL’s Papadakis meets (whom? Gulati?).

Jan. 6, 2017 – Gulati Dec: Pivotal Board meeting. Commisso, Brian Helmick (San Francisco Deltas), Steve Malik (North Carolina), Riccardo Silva (Miami) and others join call. Helmick, Gulati says, began presentation by saying Gulati has gone “above and beyond the call of duty” in trying to save the league. Then the vote in favor of D2 for USL and NASL, despite Task Force recommendation
– NASL has a separate exhibit (Ex 46)

Jan. 18, 2017 – Ex 54: USSF (Flynn) to NASL (Sehgal) reiterating what was discussed Jan. 13 — conditions under which NASL has received its D2, including a plan for moving forward, due March 15. (It does NOT include what Gulati Dec mentions from Board meeting, which is the requirement to meet D2 standards in 2018 unless specifically agreed to by USSF.)

Feb. 9, 2017 – BOD Minutes: Nothing mentioned on pro leagues aside from USL application for Canadian team (Ottawa) approved.

March 3, 2017 – BOD Minutes: Nothing on pro leagues other than NWSL describing A&E deal

March 25, 2017 – NASL season starts with eight teams. San Francisco is new. Minnesota is in MLS. Tampa Bay and Ottawa are in USL. Fort Lauderdale and Rayo OKC are gone.

June 8, 2017 – BOD Minutes: Again, nothing on pro leagues, though new committee assignments were approved in accordance with new bylaws requiring 3-5 people per committee.

July 26, 2017 – BOD Minutes: “Mr. Ahrens inquired as to the status of professional league standards review for the year and Mr. Gulati provided an update.”

Sometime in 2017 – Gulati Dec: USSF retains consultant Jeff L’Hote to verify info on USL and NASL meeting D2 standards.

Aug. 15, 2017 – Ex 55: Sehgal to USSF, application for 2018 divisional status. Notes two teams expected to be out (Edmonton, San Francisco), but the two California teams make it eight.
– Gulati Dec: USL’s application includes waivers for individual teams but NOT for the league as a whole — “Even if it dropped the teams needing waivers, it would still have more than enough teams to satisfy all Division II standards.”
– Also NASL Ex 49

Aug. 24, 2017 – Gulati Dec: Gulati and a staff member mediate dispute between NASL and ex-teams Tampa Bay and Ottawa.

Sept. 1, 2017 – Gulati Dec: Board meeting, with Board members currently affiliated with one of the professional leagues out of the room (so that’s Garber, Bocanegra?, Malik?). Sehgal says league is “reformulating a strategic plan.” Gulati’s words: “In other words, the NASL was working on a plan, but did not yet have one even though that was one of the conditions of the provisional Division II grant in January.”

Also of interest from Sept. 1 (Gulati Dec): “Mr. Commisso raised an issue of inter-league poaching (the USL recruiting teams from the NASL). In requesting the USSF’s assistance, and in direct contradiction to the NASL’s claims now, Mr. Commisso stated “We think you have the authority to change how each league operates, okay.”

Sept. 3, 2017: Ex 56: Flynn to Sehgal, confirming Board’s vote not to give NASL a 2018 D2 sanction (NASL neither met the standards nor had a definitive plan for getting there) but inviting league to reapply for D3 by Oct. 2. (Also Ex 57: Flynn to USL’s Papadakis saying Board has delayed decision on USL’s D2 application until Oct. 2, asking league to present plan for reducing the number of team waivers, currently 21 — presumably not 21 teams but 21 waivers)
– NASL has Flynn letter as Ex 50

NASL motion describes it as such: “On September 3, 2017, the anticompetitive plan was carried out. The USSF informed the NASL that it was being denied Division II status for the 2018 season, and that if it wanted to continue to play as a USSF-sanctioned league, it would have to apply for status as a Division III league. In contrast, the USSF has given USL a month to provide additional assurances to the USSF so it can obtain provisional sanctioning as the sole Division II league in 2018. While USL would have to receive a number of waivers from the Division II Professional League Standards to receive a Division II sanction—possibly as many as twenty—the NASL was denied the mere two waivers that it requested. There was thus no doubt that the transparent motive for the USSF’s actions was to eliminate the NASL as a viable competitor.”

Sept. 19, 2017: We go to court

Oct. 6-8, 2017: Ex 57: Email (no true copy presented) to Commisso and Sehgal offering to ask Board to reconsider D2 if it can demonstrate by Oct. 20 that it has eight economically viable, separately owned teams and provide by Nov. 20 a plan for getting to 12 by 2020. Commisso basically says, “Not interested in talking unless it’s part of a confidential settlement communication. Gulati responds by playing the Columbia card: “If you’d rather send me another email drafted by your lawyers, that’s up to you. If on the other hand, you want to see if two guys who love Columbia and the sport can address the NASL’s current needs, then I’m willing.”

OTHER USSF EXHIBITS

Exhibit 1: Minutes of first USSF (USAFA) meeting: April 15, 1913
Ex 2: First articles of incorporation of USSF (USAFA), 1914
Ex 3: FIFA Rules on Amateurism and Professionalism, 1924 (included to demonstrate FIFA mandate that federation should govern both)
Ex 4: FIFA statutes, 1958
Ex 5: FIFA statutes, 2016
Ex 6: USSF bylaws, 2017
Ex 7: U.S. Olympic Committee bylaws, 2017
Ex 8: Pro League Standards, 1995
Ex 11: PLS, 2014
Ex 58: FIFA statement, 2008 (presented to show Statute 9 isn’t addressing closed leagues)
Ex 60: PLS, 2008
Ex 61: PLS, 2010
Ex 62: Chart summarizing PLS changes from 1995 to 2014

 

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