During a conference call with the media today to plead its case in public, the North American Soccer League confirmed that unless they receive a preliminary injunction to keep Division 2 status in their anti-trust lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation the league will not be able to continue into next season.

The press conference included NASL Commissioner Rishi Sehgal, NASL Chairman and the owner of the New York Cosmos owner Rocco B. Commisso and Winston & Strawn LLP Attorney Jeffrey Kessler.

Earlier this month the US Soccer Federation decided to strip NASL, one of two Second Division soccer leagues in America, of its sanctioning. After what interim commissioner Rishi Sehgal called an “arbitrary decision,” the league owners felt that their only recourse left for survival was to file an anti-trust lawsuit in federal court.

“There is no possible consideration of playing without sanction. It’s not a viable strategy,” explained attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who is the lead counsel for the NASL in its lawsuit against US Soccer. “You are not going to be able to attract the best players in an unsanctioned league through FIFA.”

The US Soccer Federation governs the sport of soccer in the United States. Over the past several years US Soccer has come up with a list of professional standards for the different levels of pro soccer in the country, known as divisions. From 2011 till 2017 the three professional divisions in the country were occupied by MLS in Divison 1, NASL in Division 2, and the United Soccer League (USL) as a Division 3.

In January 2017 US Soccer granted NASL and the United Soccer League (USL) conditional Division 2 sanctioning. Both of the professional leagues did not meet all the of the divisional standards instituted by the USSF. Both were granted conditional sanctioning for this year and were expected to present US Soccer with a plan to quickly become compliant with all of the federation’s standards.

Currently, NASL does not meet two of the Divison 2 standards: having 12 teams and clubs located in three of the four continental time zones in America. The league which lost five teams last year (Minnesota United moved to the MLS, Ft. Lauderdale and Oklahoma City folded, and Tampa Bay and Ottawa left to join the USL) added only one (the San Francisco Deltas) this season. For 2018 the league formally announced that teams in Orange County and San Diego will join the league, and also said that three additional teams from New Orleans, Atlanta and Detroit were considering joining.

Commissioner Sehgal noted that the league presented US Soccer with a three-year plan to come into complete compliance with Divison 2 standards. However, the status of two of the league’s teams, the San Francisco Deltas and FC Edmonton are not clear for 2018. That required the league to ask US Soccer continue to grant exemptions to their Division 2 standards for the upcoming season.

After the NASL submitted their proposal, the USSF scheduled a September 1st meeting with the league to talk about their sanctioning proposal. On that day NASL Chairman Commisso said that league officials were made to wait six hours from the scheduled appointment time at the US Soccer offices without explanation.

When they were finally admitted to the US Soccer boardroom, the Cosmos owner said it quickly apparent to him that the US Soccer board members were just going through the motions and had no interest in the league’s presentation. Commiso noted that one of the directors at the meeting even fell asleep during the presentation.

That evening NASL was informed the federation decided to withhold Division 2 sanctioning for the league. Comisso said that the rival USL, which also met with US Soccer about its sanctioning, also did not meet all of the standards as well but were given till October 3rd to formulate a plan to come into compliance.

Comisso said that the eight current NASL team owners invested over fifty million dollars collectively to fund their league this year. Without the Division 2 sanctioning it was possible that all of the owners would lose all of their investment. Additionally, the loss of the league will not help the advancement of professional soccer in the United States.

Kessler explained that NASL filed the antitrust lawsuit to protect the owner’s interests and ensure the future of the league. The lawsuit asks for two forms of relief. 1) A preliminary injunction to allow the league to play in 2018 and 2) A permanent injunction to remove the current professional standards instituted by US Soccer which the league consider to be arbitrary in nature.

“By definition, the professional league standards of the United States Soccer Federation not only restrict competition but they have successfully shielded Major League Soccer from any competition at the Division 1 level at all, conferring a monopoly upon it,” Kessler said.



“The NASL is not looking for any handouts,” Kessler continued. “It’s not looking for any advantage. What it simply wants is an even pitch where they can invest and build its game to compete at the highest level.”

The league expects to find out about the status of the preliminary injunction around the end of October.

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NOTE: SocTakes has a recording of the whole press conference on their website.