Vancouver Whitecaps In A Bit Of Spat With MLS Over Cody Arnoux

Before they have even played a game as a MLS team, the Vancouver Whitecaps are already showing an ability to think creatively.

Back in August, the Whitecaps signed Cody Arnoux, who had basically ducked last year’s SuperDraft after leaving Wake Forest and playing in England. No team selected Arnaux, and so no MLS team retained his rights if he ever chose to return to the United States. In most cases, players who come to MLS during the season are put through an allocation draft.

Although MLS had told the Whitecaps and Portland Timbers they could keep players they signed while they were still competing in USSF D-2, the league ruled Arnaux would have to go through the SuperDraft. Arnaux has played on the U-15 and U-18 U.S. national teams, and similar players have traditionally been subjected to various MLS allocation drafts.

The Whitecaps are unwilling to simply accept that ruling.

During an interview with the Vancouver Sun, Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi says the team is fighting MLS’s initial ruling.

Lenarduzzi said Arnoux’s 2011 deal hasn’t been approved by MLS officials yet as the league and the club wrangle over his status.

The league feels Arnoux -- who spent last season with the Everton FC reserves in England -- must be drafted in the MLS SuperDraft or a weighted lottery before he can play for any MLS team. But the Whitecaps claim they can carry him forward into MLS because he was part of their 2010 USSF D-2 roster.

The two sides have discussed the issue for more than two months now and Arnoux’s 2011 deal with Vancouver could be voided if the league forces him to be drafted.

Both sides seem to have a fair point on this. The Whitecaps weren’t, after all, playing in MLS when they signed Arnoux. But MLS is understandably concerned about this setting a precedent for players skipping the SuperDraft, and considering the next expansion team is also one being “promoted” nothing would stop the Montreal Impact from trying a similar end-around.

There doesn’t seem to be a compelling reason for MLS to cave on this issue, either. But kudos to the Whitecaps for trying. The league can always use some new kinds of thinkers.