CSA president Victor Montagliani appeared on Toronto’s Fan 590’s Prime Time Sports yesterday, where he said that there would be a meeting with MLS commissioner Don Garber within the “next month” that would address the contentious issue of Canadians as domestics league-wide. Currently Canadian players are considered international players in the United States, while American players count towards the domestic quota while playing in Canada.
MLS has maintained that there are legal reasons for the inconsistency. Montagliani said that the CSA’s legal position is that the laws MLS points to are not as black and white as they are made out to be. In short, the CSA believes that it is legally possible for Canadians to be counted as domestics in the United States.
Regardless, Montagliani stressed that he believed that a “diplomatic” solution to the dispute was the best course of action and said that the CSA had been working on just that with US stakeholders for the last three years. He also stressed that he felt that “we are at a watershed moment where action is needed now.”
Montagliani was also asked about the Canadian Premier League project. He again confirmed that the CSA was talking to investors about creating an “inclusive solution” with current professional teams to create more professional opportunities in Canada. On note, he made reference to the possibility of those opportunities coming in “cross border leagues that we control.”
Outside of the earliest reporting on the CanPL where the possibility of a partnership with the NASL to create a “Canadian conference” was suggested, that was the first suggestion that anything other than a Canadian only option was being considered.