CSA vice-president criticizes MLS over new domestic content regulations

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

I suspect this Vancouver Sun story will into a major talking point:

http://www.canada.com/sports/soccer/rips+clubs+over+Canadian+content/3599801/story.html

The governing body for soccer in Canada is upset with Major League Soccer for letting the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC abandon the Canadian player content quota next year.

TFC has to list six Canadians on its 24-man roster, but under new rules being drafted by MLS, the Ontario club and the Whitecaps won’t be required to play any Canadian-born players in 2011. Vancouver will join MLS next year.

“This goes against the reason why we were pushing for MLS teams in Canada — to help our national team program,” Canadian Soccer Association vice-president Victor Montagliani said. “We feel let down a little bit by MLS, but the Canadian clubs have really let us down.” ...

Montagliani fears Canadian players with MLS aspirations won’t have a “fair shot” in the league next year because while Canadian and U.S. players will all be considered “domestic” players in Canada, Canadians will be considered international players on the rosters of U.S. teams. MLS teams are currently allowed to carry just eight international players on their 24-man rosters.

“This just goes to show you can’t rely on professional clubs to develop Canadian players,” Montagliani said. “They can wax poetic that they’re here for Canadian development but at the end of the day, their No. 1 priority is to put a winning team on the field, regardless of where the players come from.

“I’m not faulting them. I’m just saying it’s up to the rest of the Canadian soccer community to ensure that we push the Canadian agenda.”

He feels the CSA should seriously consider launching a new league — with a high Canadian-player content — to develop young players that will move up to a higher level. Montagliani said countries that have done well at the international level recently are those whose national governing bodies have been involved in player development....

That stuff will no doubt go down well with some on here but personally I'm reminded of Samuel Johnston's saying that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. If Canadian players are good enough in future they won't need quotas enforced by regulations to get onto MLS rosters and the investment being made by TFC, the Whitecaps and Impact dwarfs anything that the CSA has done with National Training Centres, which as Lenarduzzi points out are a sham:

“You can’t just have national training centres (for young players) that are a sham,” he said. “Do something about it. But you need money to do that.”

so there is every reason to believe that the future won't be like the last 15 years or so in player development terms.

[dyslexic nam]

"...while Canadian and U.S. players will all be considered “domestic” players in Canada, Canadians will be considered international players on the rosters of U.S. teams."

That's an interesting turn of events. I may have missed this being clarified previously, but I thought the changes would be equal both ways with respect to Canadian/US players/clubs. As described, the changes definitely put Canadian players at a distinct disadvantage. Now they have to compete in the US for limited international spots, while not retaining a similar competitive advantage versus US players who can now come to Canada without any nationality restrictions. Yes, the clubs will have greater player options at their disposal, but the Canadian players will have less leverage to get top dollar. I suppose it makes sense from an MLS perspective - it helps the clubs and maximizes the opportunity for US domestic player development. It just blows for Canadian players.

I agree with the CSA - I think this could really set back MLS as a vehicle for Candian player development.

[argh1]

With Canadian players being considered International players on US teams and US players NOT being on respective Canadian teams ( am I understanding this right?)

MLS is now a joke in Canada. We were sold snake oil from the Medicine Show.

If all NA players are not being treated as equals what's the point?

[jpg75]

Well that's a ****ing joke isn't it!? The CSA needs to create their own regulations and impose them on the Cdn clubs or else they will strip their sanctioning. That's the only recourse now, unless they can pressure MLS to negotiate with the USSF.

[Macksam]

"...while Canadian and U.S. players will all be considered “domestic” players in Canada, Canadians will be considered international players on the rosters of U.S. teams."

That's an interesting turn of events. I may have missed this being clarified previously, but I thought the changes would be equal both ways with respect to Canadian/US players/clubs. As described, the changes definitely put Canadian players at a distinct disadvantage. Now they have to compete in the US for limited international spots, while not retaining a similar competitive advantage versus US players who can now come to Canada without any nationality restrictions. Yes, the clubs will have greater player options at their disposal, but the Canadian players will have less leverage to get top dollar. I suppose it makes sense from an MLS perspective - it helps the clubs and maximizes the opportunity for US domestic player development. It just blows for Canadian players.

I agree with the CSA - I think this could really set back MLS as a vehicle for Candian player development.

If the academies become the main source of players in the future then this really isn't all that bad.

[jpg75]

That stuff will no doubt go down well with some on here but personally I'm reminded of Samuel Johnston's saying that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. If Canadian players are good enough in future they won't need quotas enforced by regulations to get onto MLS rosters and the investment being made by TFC, the Whitecaps and Impact dwarfs anything that the CSA has done with National Training Centres, which as Lenarduzzi points out are a sham

Funny, but most FA's around the world (USSF included) feel the need to impose quotas so that their players are guaranteed roster spots on their domestic clubs. Why wouldn't Canada need that?

[rdroze]

This part is just laughable:

“I’m not faulting them. I’m just saying it’s up to the rest of the Canadian soccer community to ensure that we push the Canadian agenda.”

No, Mr. Montagliani, it is precisely up to the Canadian Soccer Association to push the Canadian soccer agenda. If you feel so strongly we need Canadian quotas, where are the CSA regulations that require this? What exactly is the point of having a Canadian soccer association if it doesn't promote the national interest?

It's not the USSF's job to provide development opportunities for Canadian players.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Good to see that someone can spot the way in which Montagliani is being a complete charlatan with this. Hence my reference to Samuel Johnston. Going deeper than that I think this may be driven by angst over the way that the three pro clubs are currently successfully taking over a big part of what the CSA sees as being it's raison d'etre when it comes to elite player development. MLS scored a bit of a PR own goal with this (why not keep a minimum number just for the optics of it when there is zero chance of there ever being a complete absence of Canadian players on the Whitecaps, TFC and Impact rosters given the role that their academy systems are going to play in future?) so Montagliani saw an opportunity to gain some popularity by wrapping himself in the flag and an opening to go on the attack to defend the CSA's turf when it comes to player development.

[AvroArrow]

It would appear that this gives the Canadian clubs an advantage over their American counterparts. TFC, Vancouver, and eventually Montreal will have a pool of an additional +30 million people from which to draw domestic players.

[Lord Bob]

Yeah, I'm sure if the CSA withdrew sanctioning from Toronto and Vancouver over this we'd all be applauding their courage and integrity. If not enough Canadians can play for Canadian teams in MLS well then no Canadians should play for Canadian teams in MLS.

[RJB]

As I've said in another thread, this is an American league and the USSF can do with it as they wish. If there were a Canadian league, then the CSA could make their own rules. Yes it sucks, and yes this will not help the Canadian program, however when you are guest in another league you play by their rules. I hate it as much as the next person, but this isn't going to change because we don't have control, or much leverage.

[Vancouversoccerman]

I think the CSA in this case has some very valid points.They took $20 million of government money for the 2007 U-20 World Cup and plugged it into a MLS Stadium and MLS team to jump start pro soccer and help with development. Now, MLS (in their eyes) have reneged. This is a good reason to be pissed.

Removing Canadian quotas and using North Americans makes sense because the old quota created an artifical economy for Canadian players in Toronto that was going to get worse in 2011 & 2012. But it's wrong to give American players special rights to work in Canada within MLS and not extend the same rights to Canadians playing for U.S. teams. This also creates an artificial economy for Canadian players in reverse by crashing their value and limiting their opportunities. It's wrong, and I'm surprised the Canadian members of the MLS player's union haven't cried foul.

A small Canadian League would be great for development below MLS and the Caps residency, but it's really hard to imagine the CSA having the cash or technical ability to pull that off.

[TFCRegina]

I actually prefer putting Canadians on equal footing with Americans and wish it would go a step further. Level the playing field and make Canadians play up to the level of play in Major League Soccer.

In the end, the Canadians who deserve to be there, will be there.

It's not like we have any shortage of Division 3 players abroad right now. We can produce footballers at the MLS level. At least now the players have a league at home to aspire to and don't have to go abroad to search for it.

[Lord Bob]

Plugging my own blog post on the topic: http://www.eightysixforever.com/2010/9/30/1722145/when-vancouver-and-ottawa-fight-who-wins-nobody

[Bill Spiers]

A simple question for Mr. Montagliani.

CSA has the following rule which applies to all Canadian teams:

Rule 3. Players

a) General

xi) The Board of Directors shall annually establish a limit of the number of players who are not Canadian citizens or landed immigrants who apply for registration with a professional team.

When did the Board last establish a limit? (I know they are required to do this annually but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been done for a number of years).

What is the current limit?

If you are so concerned about the current situation with the MLS – more specifically, with the Canadian clubs in the MLS – why don’t you update this rule (if necessary) and enforce it?

[Free kick]

If the academies become the main source of players in the future then this really isn't all that bad.

No. I dont agree. its a double standard applied against canadian clubs. If he is right that Canadians will count as foreigners on US clubs then he has a right to be livid.

the academies are of huge importance but they could never be the primary source of talent given the depth of the pool. which is the planet.

[Free kick]

It would appear that this gives the Canadian clubs an advantage over their American counterparts. TFC, Vancouver, and eventually Montreal will have a pool of an additional +30 million people from which to draw domestic players.

OK, but whats the point of MLS in bigger picture? To create playing oportunities at home for canadians.

[Gian-Luca]

"...while Canadian and U.S. players will all be considered “domestic” players in Canada, Canadians will be considered international players on the rosters of U.S. teams."

It's the part that doesn't make sense from just about anybody's perspective. I can't imagine the US-based MLS teams would object to having their player pool broadened by allowing Canadians to count as domestics, nor can I imagine them wanting 2 (and by 2012, 3) teams having a distinct advantage over them with the size of their player pool. Only the USSF, in a bizarre form of protectionism against a mythical army of Canadian players coming to take jobs away from Americans on American teams, would have this in their interest for it not to be reciprocal. I can understand why the CSA doesn't like this, so why agree to it?

[argh1]

OK, but whats the point of MLS in bigger picture? To create playing oportunities at home for canadians.

It ain't gonna happen, The National Stadium. Creating places for Canadians to play has been replaced by how much $ can we make in 4 short years.

The Pipe Dream..........whatever happened to him?

[kj52]

Before you start taking Montagliani too seriously please remember he has a burning desire to be president in 2012, this is a politician starting his campaign with some flag waving.

[Gian-Luca]

I also didn't understand this bit in the article:

"Lenarduzzi said the Whitecaps are clearly interested in supporting Canadian national teams and have demonstrated that by investing heavily in a residency program for young Canadian and international players. The club holds territorial rights to sign young players from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and recently signed talented 16-year-old Ontario midfielder Bryce Alderson because he lived just outside TFC’s designated territory."

So where is TFC's designated territory, the GTA? Downtown Toronto?

[jpg75]

A simple question for Mr. Montagliani.

CSA has the following rule which applies to all Canadian teams:

Rule 3. Players

a) General

xi) The Board of Directors shall annually establish a limit of the number of players who are not Canadian citizens or landed immigrants who apply for registration with a professional team.

When did the Board last establish a limit? (I know they are required to do this annually but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been done for a number of years).

What is the current limit?

If you are so concerned about the current situation with the MLS – more specifically, with the Canadian clubs in the MLS – why don’t you update this rule (if necessary) and enforce it?

This is the answer to the situation. If the USSF is going to impose their regulations on MLS then the CSA needs to impose their own set of rules (which will essentially supercede those of the USSF) for the Canadian clubs. "Go ahead and count Americans as domestic, but remember that you can only have X amount of non-Canadians on your team". Done and done. What are the Whitecaps and TFC going to do? They have to abide by the CSA rules (and the USSF rules) or they don't get sanctioned - and their not going to go down that road. The CSA needs to start acting like a parent to these clubs and stop trying to be their friend.

[TFCRegina]

I also didn't understand this bit in the article:

"Lenarduzzi said the Whitecaps are clearly interested in supporting Canadian national teams and have demonstrated that by investing heavily in a residency program for young Canadian and international players. The club holds territorial rights to sign young players from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and recently signed talented 16-year-old Ontario midfielder Bryce Alderson because he lived just outside TFC’s designated territory."

So where is TFC's designated territory, the GTA? Downtown Toronto?

I would imagine TFC has rights to the Golden Horseshoe. It's approximately the same population of the combined populations of the Four Provinces that Vancouver has.

[TFCRegina]

This is the answer to the situation. If the USSF is going to impose their regulations on MLS then the CSA needs to impose their own set of rules (which will essentially supercede those of the USSF) for the Canadian clubs. "Go ahead and count Americans as domestic, but remember that you can only have X amount of non-Canadians on your team". Done and done. What are the Whitecaps and TFC going to do? They have to abide by the CSA rules (and the USSF rules) or they don't get sanctioned - and their not going to go down that road. The CSA needs to start acting like a parent to these clubs and stop trying to be their friend.

Again, I wish the CSA would stay out of it.

The clubs have Academies. If our Academy players can't compete with a bunch of ****ty players from the NCAA development system, they shouldn't be in the club in the first place.

Let Canadians compete for spots.

In fact, get rid of the entire quota system entirely.

[narduch]

In fact, get rid of the entire quota system entirely.

If we did that, Canadian MLS teams would be the only professional soccer teams in the world that don't have one.

In fact if this rule goes through, that will essentially be the case anyways.

Its ironic that while FIFA fights to create real domestic quotas there are a ton of TFC fans who don't see a problem with this retarded rule.

I hope the CSA finally shows some power and does not allow this rule. It is total bull****.