MLS suffering growing pains

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/03/2010 (5956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like an awkward teenager, Major League Soccer is taking the long, hard path to adulthood. Restless, dramatic and insecure, it’s caught between the innocence of childhood and the responsibility of maturity. It doesn’t know what to do with itself.

Since its inception in 1996, North America’s top division has taken developmental baby steps. It’s easy enough to forget, but the traditional — almost European — product the league currently sells once allowed players to dribble the ball 35 yards before taking a penalty, and counted down the 45 minutes in a half — with time stopped for dead ball situations.

On the pitch, MLS has come a long, long way. But off it, the league has yet to find a comfortable middle ground between what passes for “normal” in many parts of the soccer world, and the rigid, closed-economy model of North American sports.

Not only that, it’s struggling to strike an equilibrium between itself and the players it employs. And its 15th season could be wiped out as a result.

Although the expansion Philadelphia Union are scheduled to open the MLS campaign at Seattle Sounders on March 25, the league and players’ union have yet to replace a collective bargaining agreement that expired on Jan. 31. Despite hiring a mediator to sit in on their negotiating sessions, the two sides remain far apart, and a players’ strike appears inevitable. On Thursday, union members voted overwhelmingly to delay the start of the season until an agreement is reached.

It’s hard not to sympathize with them. MLS, after all, is the only soccer league on earth that does not guarantee its players’ contracts. It also owns those contracts, negotiating wages on behalf of its clubs. It even enforces a salary cap — something unheard of and completely unworkable in the rest of the world, where leagues consist of clubs that operate as independent companies rather than franchises.

While they’ll be hard-pressed to get rid of the cap, the players will at least want to see it increased from its current number (estimated to be US$2.5 million). They’ll also demand guaranteed contracts across the board, and a strictly enforced salary floor that compels teams to spend to a minimum payroll threshold.

This is an anomaly among labour disputes in that the players hold all the cards. But MLS is an anomaly among leagues — fighting to retain a North American business structure in a sport that practices anything but.

It’s an awkward situation to be in, sometimes downright humiliating. But like most adolescents, MLS can only hope things get better as it gets older, more confident and self-assured. The growing pains can only last so long.

Spot kicks

“ö FIFA president Sepp Blatter reiterated his opposition to goal-line technology this week, saying on the FIFA website that “the application of modern technologies can be very costly, and therefore not applicable on a global level.” No one’s advocating for video replay on sand pitches in Rio, Sepp. But at World Cup level? That’s another matter.

“ö Even if they go out of the Scottish Cup to Kilmarnock today, Celtic should stick with manager Tony Mowbray. He’s brought in a host of new players, and he needs time to gel everything together.

“ö Santos superkid Neymar, 18, is set for a move to the Premier League in the summer. Chelsea and Manchester City lead the way in the bidding, but he should stay in Brazil at least another year and get regular, meaningful playing time before switching to Europe.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

Matches to watch

Lyon vs. St. Etienne: today, 2 p.m., Setanta.

Sevilla vs. Deportivo La Coruna: today, 3 p.m., GolTV.

Manchester United vs. Fulham: Sunday, 9 a.m., Setanta.

Barcelona vs. Valencia: Sunday, 1 p.m., GolTV.