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Blatter Wants International Schedule For MLS
The head of soccer's main governing body would like MLS to switch to the more common schedule format used by the big soccer nations in the world.
Mar 12, 2009 10:50:28 AM
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has recently spoken out regarding MLS and its schedule and hopes that in the future the league can switch to the traditional system used in Europe and most other places in the world.
"American football plays in winter, so they can only play from March to October, which means you are not in the right season," Blatter said on Wednesday. "The best American players are playing here, and this is the basic problem with the MLS."
As of right now, MLS plays during the summer months, when American football isn’t being played so that the teams sharing a stadium are able to play home fixtures. A schedule similar to the rest of the world would complicate things to a dizzying degree.
"This league was founded after the 1994 World Cup, but is still struggling to get the position they should have, according to the number of football players there are in the United States," Blatter said. "It has the highest number of young players in any sport," he said. "But the league has not found yet its position. It can only find its position if the league has its own stadiums."
The number of soccer-specific stadiums the league plays in is growing, but teams like the New York Red Bulls, Houston Dynamo and Seattle Sounders share their home with an American football team. Changing the MLS schedule would be extremely difficult.
MLS does have plans to eventually change the format of its schedule, but right now it remains an impossibility. Things do look good, however, as the Red Bulls are in the process of building their new stadium and similar plans for new venues are in the works for Houston, San Jose and Kansas City.
Shane Evans, Goal.com
"American football plays in winter, so they can only play from March to October, which means you are not in the right season," Blatter said on Wednesday. "The best American players are playing here, and this is the basic problem with the MLS."
As of right now, MLS plays during the summer months, when American football isn’t being played so that the teams sharing a stadium are able to play home fixtures. A schedule similar to the rest of the world would complicate things to a dizzying degree.
"This league was founded after the 1994 World Cup, but is still struggling to get the position they should have, according to the number of football players there are in the United States," Blatter said. "It has the highest number of young players in any sport," he said. "But the league has not found yet its position. It can only find its position if the league has its own stadiums."
The number of soccer-specific stadiums the league plays in is growing, but teams like the New York Red Bulls, Houston Dynamo and Seattle Sounders share their home with an American football team. Changing the MLS schedule would be extremely difficult.
MLS does have plans to eventually change the format of its schedule, but right now it remains an impossibility. Things do look good, however, as the Red Bulls are in the process of building their new stadium and similar plans for new venues are in the works for Houston, San Jose and Kansas City.
Shane Evans, Goal.com
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