Per Kartik at The Kartik Report, the United Soccer Leagues has filed breach of contract suits against NALS clubs Tampa Bay Rowdies, Crystal Palace Baltimore, and Rochester Rhinos in Hillsborough, Florida county circuit court. The filing, dated December 8th, can be viewed courtesy of the court's website.
This is the eventuality that I'm positive weekend meetings called by US Soccer were intended to avoid. No matter the legal ground USL is standing on, which would seem to give them a solid claim against clubs breaking an agreement to play in USL-1 in 2010, going down this path could be destructive to both sides. FIFA's proscription against legal action by member clubs/leagues against another is important and could become a factor, but is somewhat secondary at the moment; unfortunately, the demand for professional soccer in the United States is not strong enough for second division clubs to survive if faced with legal judgements.
To this point, I've been solidly on the side of the NASL clubs, at least in the areas of marketing, direction, and control, and while I still am, this move on the part of USL, which will help no one in the end but is within their rights as a business concern, has me wondering if it's time for the NASL to back down. The complications of launching in 2010 while dealing with courts and sanctioning (which looks unlikely to come anytime soon) are just too great. A temporary agreement for next season needs to be reached, and it needs to be reached now, before the specter of FIFA involvement becomes an additional problem. If the teams and USL can agree on an exit strategy that allows for a 2011 NASL launch while paying full respect to agreed to contracts in 2010, both groups can use the transition year to properly split in an (somewhat) amicable way.
As for US Soccer, the quicker a statement is released in regards to this development, the better. They've met with the principles, they've "requested more information" and they've made no obvious progress. The lawsuits, which must have been in the works before the meeting was called, were filed in spite of the attempted reconciliation; USL made a decision to go forward with legal action even while their executives were mulling their most recent confrontation with the NASL while in the presence of a very unhappy USSF. That is a pretty clear indication the meetings did nothing. Failing to comment on this news will only create more problems, and give the impression that the federation does not have a grasp on the situation.
The best possible outcome involves USL dropping their lawsuits, releasing USL clubs to play in NASL, and moving forward. That, clearly, is not going to happen. USL is locked into protecting their business interests, putting in doubt the futures of both USL-1 and NASL for at least next year.
