Pasion Naranja!

After the US Soccer Federation announced today the resolution for the USL/NASL dispute, we contacted the Puerto Rico Islanders’ front office for commentary on the final agreement.

Andres Guillemard, president of the club, reacted initially by saying “We are very happy with the agreement, we now have solid soccer for 2010 with teams that have much depth.” The team president mentioned that he did not expect any problems with having two conferences in the league, “The conferences will play together, it will be something similar to what you see in Major League Baseball.”

When asked about what he expected would happen for 2011 and if the Islanders would stay with the USL, Guillemard preferred not to speculate about the future “I prefer to continue to talk about unity at this point, the new arrangement will be very beneficial for all the parties involved.” As to how the new arrangement would be very beneficial, the Islanders executive simply answered “By having more teams in the league, solid teams.”

With the Puerto Rico club offering no official announcement so far during the off-season, there were questions as to how involved the Islanders actually were in the discussions. Guillemard settled those questions by saying that “The Islanders have been completely involved throughout this process, we were considered at every step. Even in the final documentation you can see some of that as Canada’s and Puerto Rico’s sports independence is referenced.”

Beyond being happy with the final details of the compromise, Guillemard also spoke positively of the USSF’s work in the agreement “The same way I was angry two weeks ago, now I can say I am very happy. It is thanks to all parties that were able to work this out.”

To finalize, Guillemard added emphatically “Time showed we were correct, we will play in 2010 and with solid teams. To our fans, being silent on an issue is a good indication that we are working on it one hundred percent”

The US Soccer Federation (USSF) announced today the agreement reached for the 2010 season regarding the division II leagues. After months of controversy, lawsuits, and uncertainty, the USL and NASL executives were forced to come up with a compromise in the last week that would ensure a 2010 season for the teams involved in these leagues. The agreement reached will have the USSF overseeing the division II league for 2010 with teams from both the USL and the NASL.

The league will consist of two six-team conferences – the USL Conference and the NASL Conference.

The USL conference will be made up of:

*Puerto Rico

*Austin

*Minnesota

*Portland

*Rochester

*Tampa Bay

While the NASL conference will include:

*Baltimore

*Carolina

*Miami

*Montreal

*St. Louis

*Vancouver

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After the US Soccer Federation’s press release earlier today, the USL release their own statement on the recently revealed resolution:

US Soccer News Release

Thursday, January 7, 2010

CHICAGO, IL — The U.S. Soccer Federation, United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL) have come to an agreement on the formation and operation of a Division 2 professional soccer league for the 2010 season. Under the agreement, U.S. Soccer will oversee the league for the 2010 season, working with both the USL and NASL on the day-to-day league activities.

The agreement pertains only to the 2010 season, and during the next year U.S. Soccer will continue to work with USL and NASL to build a long-term solution for the future. U.S. Soccer will also be developing new standards to govern Division 2 professional league applicants to ensure the long term viability and sustainability of the leagues and teams.

“We are extremely pleased that we were able to come to a solution that ensures we will have Division 2 professional soccer in the United States in 2010,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “This agreement allows us to continue to develop the professional game in many important markets around the country, while at the same time working towards the long-term stability of Division 2 professional soccer. I’d like to thank the representatives from both the USL and NASL for the time spent during our negotiations, especially their efforts in the past seven days.”

The league will consist of two six-team conferences – the USL Conference and the NASL Conference. The USL Conference will include teams from Austin, Minnesota, Portland, Puerto Rico, Rochester and Tampa Bay. The NASL Conference will consist of teams from Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Montreal, St. Louis and Vancouver.

In the near future, U.S. Soccer will announce details of the new league, including league rules, a match schedule, television rights and other important operational issues.

Additional Comments – USL CEO Alec Papadakis:

“We are pleased to have a solution that will provide fans the continued presentation of an elite caliber of professional soccer in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. While some differences remain, the one common agreement was that everyone must play this season, and we are happy that we were able to work with US Soccer to find a compromise for the upcoming 2010 season.”

“The quality of play on the pitch has risen sharply over the past few years and will no doubt provide for an exciting campaign yet again in 2010.”

Source: USL

The US Soccer Federation released today a press statement (below) regarding the resolution of the drawn out conflict in division II soccer:

CHICAGO (Jan. 7, 2009) – The U.S. Soccer Federation, United Soccer Leagues (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL) have come to an agreement on the formation and operation of a Division 2 professional soccer league for the 2010 season. Under the agreement, U.S. Soccer will oversee the league for the 2010 season, working with both the USL and NASL on the day-to-day league activities.

The agreement pertains only to the 2010 season, and during the next year U.S. Soccer will continue to work with USL and NASL to build a long-term solution for the future. U.S. Soccer will also be developing new standards to govern Division 2 professional league applicants to ensure the long term viability and sustainability of the leagues and teams.

“We are extremely pleased that we were able to come to a solution that ensures we will have Division 2 professional soccer in the United States in 2010,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “This agreement allows us to continue to develop the professional game in many important markets around the country, while at the same time working towards the long-term stability of Division 2 professional soccer. I’d like to thank the representatives from both the USL and NASL for the time spent during our negotiations, especially their efforts in the past seven days.”

The league will consist of two six-team conferences – the USL Conference and the NASL Conference. The USL Conference will include teams from Austin, Minnesota, Portland, Puerto Rico, Rochester and Tampa Bay. The NASL Conference will consist of teams from Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Montreal, St. Louis and Vancouver.

In the near future, U.S. Soccer will announce details of the new league, including league rules, a match schedule, television rights and other important operational issues.

As part of the agreement, all pending claims between the USL and NASL will be dropped.

Source: USSF

Earlier this week, we learned about the recent decision by the US Soccer Federation (USSF) to deny sanctioning to both the USL-1 and NASL. The USSF gave both parties 7 days to try to work out an agreement that would salvage the 2010 season for all the clubs involved. With the USL showing signs of good faith by dropping their lawsuit against 3 former USL clubs (Rochester, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay) as well as stating their willingness to find some sort of compromise, it certainly looks as if some agreement might be attained in the next few days.

Andres Guillemard

We spoke recently with Andres Guillemard, president of the Puerto Rico Islanders ownership group, in order to get his reaction to the USSF decision. When asked about his initial reaction to the news, Guillemard said he thought the USSF had essentially passed on the responsibility of their decision to the two conflicting parties: “The USSF has forced us to make the decision that they themselves were supposed to come up with.” said the club president.

“Regardless, we will be able to resolve this. 2010 is too important a year for world soccer with the world cup and all. I am very confident that the team will play this season. ” Guillemard expressed to PasionNaranja.

As to how the league controversy has affected the Islanders club, Guillemard replied: “It affects us positively in that we’re a very important club to both sides, it puts us in a good position. On the negative side, it hurts us in that we haven’t been able to begin our publicity campaign for the upcoming season.”

On a final note of concern we asked Guillemard if the uncertainty had affected the team negatively in resigning players to the team and finding new players for the roster, the club president told us that it hadn’t really affected the Islanders as they already had several players under contract and were moving ahead with signing new players.

With the constant evolution of the controversy regarding the USL and NASL, it’s easy to forget how far back this issue goes and also how many points of view there are on the subject. While the US Soccer Federation (USSF) seemingly sent out their newest press release on the issue in the middle of the holiday season with the hopes that the news wouldn’t receive much attention, the online soccer community was quick to react.

For those readers interested in following the broader discussion on the subject, we’re providing several links below to some of the other great analysis out there from various soccer reporters and bloggers.

1) InsideMinnesotaSoccer.com: Brian Quarstad over at IMS has been following and breaking news on the USL/NASL controversy since the beginning. He has a time-line of articles that provides some good background on the USL issues and how it began. You can find the article here: IMS Time-line.

2) Duane Rollins from 24thMinute.com writes about the USL/NASL from the Canadian perspective and has a nice piece on what the latest news from the USSF might mean for Canadian clubs. ‘BREAKING: USSF says “figure it out boys” to USL and NASL’

3) At SetPieceAnalysts.com, Richard Farley has some excellent analysis on what could happen during the negotiations in the next week and some things all parties should be considering. ‘What Can Happen In Seven Days’

4) Tom Dunmore always has an interesting take over at PitchInvasion.net and this time he states that the big question here is whether or not we trusts in the US Soccer Federation’s decision. ‘US Soccer Rejects USL and NASL – Do We Trust In Their Decision?’

5) Andrea Canales from Goal.com provides an interesting commentary on what the USSF’s motives for their recent actions regarding USL/NASL. ‘USSF Power Play Takes Out NASL ‘

After the US Soccer Federation (USSF) released a statement today saying that for the time being they will not be sanctioning the USL nor the NASL, the USL responded with a press release of their own.

While not adding much new information to the current discussion, the USL reiterates that they’re confident in having a 2010 season and will move ahead accordingly. The most interesting part of the press release has to be the following sentence:

In support of USSF’s efforts to find a resolution for the upcoming season at its Division II Men’s Professional League level, USL very recently agreed to one of the proposals made by USSF requiring USL-1 and the contemplated North American Soccer League (NASL) to come together for 2010.

With that statement, the USL is essentially expressing their willingness to reach some sort of compromise or consensus with the NASL for the 2010 season. For a while now it has looked to us as though a sort of merger league would be the most viable option for the upcoming year. Having two division II leagues for 2010 seems unlikely at this point. It would be very interesting to see what sort of compromise could be reached to have clubs from both the USL and NASL playing together next year.

You can read the full USL press release below:

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Earlier today, the US Soccer Federation released a press statement where they revealed that the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors voted unanimously on Tuesday to not sanction either the USL or the NASL to operate a Division II professional league in 2010. Now, the USL and NASL will have 7 days to try to work out an interim solution for 2010.

Below is the US Soccer Federation Press Release:

CHICAGO (Dec. 30, 2009) – The U.S. Soccer Board of Directors voted unanimously on Tuesday to not sanction either the USL or the NASL to operate a Division II professional league in 2010.

The decision was made on the recommendation of the Professional League Task Force, which determined that neither organization on its own was able to provide a viable and sustainable operation during the upcoming season. Both organizations were unable to meet U.S. Soccer’s requirement of a minimum of eight viable teams for 2010.

Despite the ruling, the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors has given both organizations seven days to try to work out an interim solution for the 2010 season.

“After carefully reviewing the findings from the Task Force it was clear there are still too many uncertainties for both organizations, which would be extremely difficult to resolve in a timely fashion that would allow them to prepare for the 2010 season,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “In the best interest of soccer in the United States, we decided to not sanction either league at this point. However, we did encourage both leagues to come together in the next week and attempt to develop another plan which would allow a single league to be approved on a provisional basis. We are committed to finding ways to improve the long-term viability of all leagues and teams and continue the growth of soccer in the United States.”

Source: USSoccer.com