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Feud Between WPS MagicJack Owner, League Continues With Legal Filing

A legal dispute is “threatening the future” of WPS magicJack, the Boca Raton club featuring seven members of the U.S. national team, including player/coach Abby Wambach, according to Hal Habib of the PALM BEACH POST. magicJack Owner Dan Borislow, who “has been feuding with the Women's Professional Soccer league nearly all season, filed a motion for a temporary injunction this week to prevent the league from terminating the franchise, which he said the league threatened to do immediately.” Borislow “claims the league is trying to terminate the team without first taking part in arbitration, which he claims both sides agreed upon under their operating agreement.” He also accused the league of running a "conspiracy" against him. WPS “did not respond to a request to clarify if or when it intended to fold the franchise.” The league in a release “called Borislow's filing baseless.” Habib notes Borislow bought the Washington Freedom this past offseason and moved them to Boca Raton. The team “has played before four consecutive sellouts, including two at FAU" (PALM BEACH POST, 8/4). The WPS release said Borislow's actions "more than justify any decision by the League to terminate his franchise." ESPNW.com’s Beau Dure noted the lawsuit acknowledges that Borislow and the WPS “have rarely agreed on how to operate.” Reporters have “complained of having difficulty speaking with players after games.” The team “did not put up a website” and “wasn't uploading video so that other teams could scout it.” The home stadium at FAU “did not have league-mandated signs for league sponsors, and Borislow claimed the league was trying to rip him off on the cost of the signs.” Borislow said, "The largest lie is they were not threatening to take the team away at the end of the season like their letter purports; they were going to take away the team this week" (ESPNW.com, 8/3).

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