Kansas City on WPS Expansion Radar

Earlier tonight the Wizards retweeted a comment from SI.com columnist Jeff Kassouf about KC being on the list for potential expansion to the WPS. Specifically once the Wizards open their soccer specific stadium. I went to Kassouf's column on SI.com and his article from August 11th mentions KC as being a candidate along side Miami, Vancouver, Denver, San Diego, and Ontario. It doesn't specifically mention OnGoal, instead it says that a group is interested in bringing a team to the new stadium. When the economic study of the Bannister Mall site came out a few years ago, it did have women's soccer mentioned as one of the things that would fill dates at the new stadium. Also back in 2007, OnGoal had shown an interest in potentially having a women's team as well.

So maybe OnGoal is still interested in bringing a women's team to KC. My stance really hasn't changed since the article I wrote in 2007, I'd likely come to a few games, but I wouldn't be a season ticket holder.

MLS/Players Union Update

After tomorrow's expansion draft, the main focus for MLS will turn to the league's collective bargaining agreement which is set to expire in January. A little bit of news on the issue has come out in the past day. Today FIFPro asked FIFA to step into the potential labor dispute because MLS doesn't follow FIFA's Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players. FIFPro has a long list of complaints against the league; there are players without a guaranteed contract, player contracts are routinely terminated by the league, MLS acts as a cartel, there is no freedom of movement for any MLS player, and virtually any player can be transferred to another club in the league without his consent.

The players' union and FIFPro were dealt a blow later in the day, though, as Grant Wahl with Sports Illustrated received word from FIFA that it will not interfere in the collective bargaining negotiations. FIFA's statement in part said, "FIFA understands that this domestic issue is being resolved in accordance with U.S. labor laws and does not involve the U.S. Soccer Federation. FIFA will not interfere in the process. We have been assured that FIFA's regulations have been and will be respected."

This is definitely an important issue to watch as the next few weeks go by.