USWNT and NWSL Orlando Pride F Alex Morgan said that the "uncertainty over the labor situation" between the USWNT players and U.S. Soccer "had an influence on her decision to sign" with French women's club Olympique Lyonnais, according to Grant Wahl of SI.com. The current CBA between the USWNT and U.S. Soccer expires Dec. 31, which "means the contracts for Morgan and other national team players at the international and club level -- U.S. Soccer pays the club salaries of national team players -- will expire." Morgan said that a deciding factor in her decision to sign with Lyon was the "ability to play with Orlando again starting in June." She said that her husband, Orlando City SC MF Servando Carrasco, is "renegotiating his deal" with the team. Morgan said of the labor talks, "We’re having a lot of team discussions. Obviously with the end of the year coming close now, we’re on conference calls regularly with the team in discussions of that. We want the deal done as soon as possible, but we also want the right deal, so we’re willing to wait for that. I’m not sure a strike or a lockout is in the future" (SI.com, 12/20). In N.Y., Andrew Das notes Morgan "cast the move as a developmental one." She said that she was "eager to test herself against top players in a highly competitive environment." But it is also a "timely hedge" amid the labor dispute. Morgan’s signing with Lyon also "ends a public and sometimes bizarre courtship of her" by Lyon President & Majority Owner Jean-Michel Aulas. He had "pursued Morgan on social media for much of the past year" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/21). Morgan said that money "had nothing to do with the decision ... adding any salary increase she'll receive would not offset the marketing money she may lose" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 12/21).
READING BETWEEN THE LINES: In N.Y., Hannah Withiam writes Morgan taking her talents to France "could be seen as a tacit -- and stunning -- indictment of the state of professional women’s soccer" in the U.S. Withiam: "Could her workplace defection be just the beginning of an alarming trend? Where the marquee attraction goes, will others follow?" It is "hard not to read between the lines when Morgan praises the creature comforts at Lyon," while some NWSL players have complained of "inadequate conditions at their stadiums" (N.Y. POST, 12/21). FOXSPORTS.com's Caitlin Murray wrote, "There will undoubtedly be a lot of hand-wringing about her move and what it means for the NWSL." Morgan is "one of the most powerful names in women’s soccer, and she is a huge draw both for Orlando and the NWSL." Many of Morgan’s teammates on the USWNT "have played in Europe" (FOXSPORTS.com, 12/20).
