en 94 la ligue a dit NON!

[Montreal_FC_Fan]

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource. ... ug=1933177

NEW YORK - Major League Soccer, a U.S. league that is supposed to debut in April, likely will have to proceed without the American Professional Soccer League.

"Our ownership is not interested in any single-entity proposition," APSL Commissioner Richard Groff said yesterday.

The APSL is a seven-team league in Canada and the United States that has been operating in some form since the mid-1980s. U.S. soccer authorities regard it as a second-division league, while MLS is envisioned as a first-division circuit.

Alan Rothenberg, MLS chairman, organizer of the World Cup and head of the U.S. Soccer Federation, sent a memo to Groff last week suggesting the APSL be part of the MLS venture. Grof said he expects the APSL owners to respond no later than Monday.

"In my personal opinion, MLS is a marketing name," he said from his suburban Philadelphia office. "And the people managing MLS are losing a great opportunity to merge both existing and future pro teams into a significant pro league that would represent North America."

The APSL franchises are run by individuals and groups. MLS is a "single-entity" structure, meaning the league owns all the franchises and player contracts.

Mark Abbott, MLS vice president speaking from Los Angeles, said because MLS is nearing the end of the selection process for franchises, it wanted the APSL club owners to know the offer to join the league was still alive.

However, the offer was made under the condition of the APSL abiding by the MLS structure.

"We're not saying anything different," Abbott said. "If they invest (in MLS), they would be given the option to operate an MLS team in the market in which they are in."

Investors are being asked to contribute $5 million each for essentially the right to operate one of 12 teams in the new league, which was a requisite to FIFA, world soccer's governing body, awarding the 1994 World Cup to the United States.

MLS announced seven of the 12 cities days before the start of the World Cup and said the remaining five would come later. In May, Rothenberg said he expected to have financing for the league in place by the end of the summer.

Reports have surfaced that MLS is not meeting its expected goals, some of the resistance caused by potential owners or investors wary of the single-entity concept. Last week's memo from Rothenberg increased speculation.

But Abbott denied the reports yesterday.

"We haven't set a deadline. What we've said is that we're working as fast as we can," Abbott said. "We've always said we'd like to open team offices by late October-early November. We're still on track for an April opening."

Groff said the APSL had asked MLS for financial information, since he said none was included in the one-page memo.

"The proposal was a very simplistic presentation that would not allow any businessman to make significant decisions," Groff said.

[FCIM]

J'ai beau bien comprendre l'anglais, je ne catche pas ce que ça veut dire!?!?
La MLS veut une 2e division? Promotion-relégation?

[MastaK]

J'ai beau bien comprendre l'anglais, je ne catche pas ce que ça veut dire!?!?
La MLS veut une 2e division? Promotion-relégation?

J'ai pas pris la peine de bien lire tout l'article mais c'est un article de 1994 et non pas un récent

[FCIM]

ah ça explique tout, j'aurais dû aller le lire sur le site original

[penz]

J'ai beau bien comprendre l'anglais, je ne catche pas ce que ça veut dire!?!?
La MLS veut une 2e division? Promotion-relégation?

Oué c'est un truc d'archives... à l'origine la MLS avait approché l'APSL pour former une ligue de soccer.
L'APSL avait dit non merci. On comprendra. En gros, t'as des illuminés qui débarquent et viennent dire aux proprios des équipes de ta ligue "ok, on prend possession de vos équipes les gars. Ça vous tente?".

L'Impact avait dit non, à l'époque, si je me souviens bien.