USL Update – Saturday afternoon 10/03/09

IMS is still working on getting a copy of the letter that USL President Tim Holt sent to players who where under contract with the Carolina RailHawks, Minnesota Thunder and Miami FC Blues but have still not been able to get the original document.

Tim Holt of USL was emailed and called for a comment and did not return either message.

Selby Wellman, who is spokesman for the TOA, said he was sorry but just couldn’t comment at this time due to the “critical nature of the issue.”

Meanwhile David Fellerath of the Triangle Offense is reporting a story today that IMS had heard rumored on Friday. Fellerath is saying that USL is purging its relationship with the three dissident clubs and have begun to remove those three teams’ logos as well as links to the teams’ websites.

IMS has confirmed this, finding the direct links to those three clubs’ websites removed as well as the team contact information. Also missing is the club information that’s a graphic and shows all the USL clubs across the continent. Those same three clubs are obviously missing from that graphic. Checking the three clubs’ websites there are no logos or links to USL that could be found on their sites either.

IMS learned that Montreal and Vancouver still HAVE NOT signed for the 2010 season with USL-1 either. Both teams were said to be allies of the TOA and sympathetic to their cause. Their teams did not receive the same information from Holt but that would be expected since both Canadian teams are still involved with the USL-1 playoffs.

Several weeks ago the TOA held meetings in New York where they met with both MLS and USL officials representing the new owners of the league, NuRock Holdings. The TOA were hopeful for some sort of resolution heading into these meetings but in recent weeks the parties were less hopeful. Yesterday’s letter from Holt to the players of the three TOA teams and removal of the teams’ associations on the website are not a good sign for future progress. IMS is also hearing that US Soccer is now involved with these discussions.

Kartik Krishnaiyer, Inside Minnesota Soccer’s partner in USL reporting, wrote today in the Kartik Report, that “the breakaway league that now is likely to be pursued by Minnesota, Miami and Carolina would need to be approved by the USSF and FIFA. These approval processes could take anywhere from a month to several months, leaving the three clubs affected and its potential allies in other markets in the limbo for the start of the 2010 American calender season.”