USSF Calling On Replacement Players For World Cup Qualifying

By Scott Warfield, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

Subbing Out: USSF Calling Replacement Players

The USSF Thursday began calling alternate players into national team training camp after the U.S. National Soccer Team Players Association (NSTPA) turned down the governing body’s newest proposal for mediation with a “no-strike provision.” The labor dispute between the USSF and the players association, which could force “replacement” players to be used during World Cup qualifying, escalated last week when the players rejected the USSF’s offer to send the dispute to arbitration. Instead, the players proposed that mediation be used to end the conflict. Had the players accepted what USSF Dir of Communications Jim Moorhouse called “mediation with a no-strike provision,” national team camp would have opened immediately with the regular national team players set to prepare for World Cup qualifying. Moorhouse: “The PA left us with no choice.” NSTPA acting Exec Dir & Outside General Counsel Mark Levinstein called the situation “extremely frustrating,” and said all the proposal would have done “is force the guys to play under 1999-2002 terms without any agreement” (THE DAILY).