Thanks to a tip from Ed Serner at Football in Miami and Beyond, comes word from Miami FC President Aaron Davidson that eight organizations will break away from USL to create an owner-controlled league in 2010.
The Team Owners Association, a group of USL-1 owners dissatisfied with the sale of the United Soccer Leagues to NuRock, have been making noise in this direction since the transaction was completed. For many, the sale of the league to a group not previously connected to the league was a shock, and is causing a ripple effect across the division.
Joey Saputo, the owner of the Montreal Impact, a team seemingly headed to MLS in the near future, has also voiced some of the owners’ concern. Saputo did not hold back in his criticisms of USL, and the sale of the league to an third party has only raised the acrimony.
The TOA, made up of Atlanta, Carolina, Miami, Minnesota, Montreal, St. Louis, Tampa and Vancouver, is clearly intent on gaining some measure of control over USL-1, and Davidson’s comments indicate that any discussions with NuRock over a workable relationship between club owners and the league owners have not progressed in a satisfactory manner.
Read the Team Owners Association press release for more information.
Miami FC’s Davidson is just the latest in a group of USL-1 club executives and owners who have made strong statements relating to the future of the league
