WPS – St. Louis Athletica – AC St. Louis Update – 5/29/10
WPS Spokesperson Rob Penner told IMS late Friday afternoon that the league has decided not to increase roster sizes to accommodate the Athletica players who will become free agents on June 2nd. The players were told in a meeting this week that the team was folding due to financial issues and that there would be no dispersal draft. Penner also said the salary caps will remain frozen. He did say that the league has made a request to U.S. Soccer to increase the number of internationals allowed per roster to six for the rest of this season.
What this means is that the Athletica players may be free to negotiate with which ever of the 7 remaining WPS teams they wish, but those teams would need to release a player in order to bring in a new player and they still would need to stay within the cap that is current standard for the WPS. This decision is certainly a detriment to Athletica players but most likely a wise one for the longevity of the league.
If US Soccer does agree to make the exception, allowing 6 internationals for the remaining WPS teams, that would increase each team’s allowance by one player. According to the WPS, international players are defined as players who are not U.S. citizens and do not possess a green card for employment in the U.S. Per U.S. Soccer Federation guidelines, currently WPS teams may sign up to 5 (five) international players per team. WPS teams may also hold the WPS playing rights to an additional international player, for a total of six international players overall.
Athletica has 6 internationals on their roster, Eniola Aluko (Birmingham, England), Anita Asante (London, England), Daniela (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Madelaine Edlund (Jönköping, Sweden), Elaine (Brazil), Aya Miyama (Chiba, Japan).
There is still no official word from AC St. Louis or Athletica on how season ticket refunds will be handled but AC St. Louis did have a Facebook post asking the WPS team’s ticket holders to swap them for AC St. Louis tickets. It also states that if their seats were already taken they would upgrade them.
AC St. Louis is traveling to Minnesota where they will take on the NSC Minnesota Stars tonight in USSF D2 Pro League action at 7:00 pm CT.
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Sucks to hear about Athletica.
I sure hope WPS lasts.
I am enjoying the games, and want to keep watching women’s soccer!