It should come as little shock if you’ve been following the storyline, but NASL CEO Aaron Davidson sounded very confident that his league would receive Division 2 sanctioning from the USSF during this weekend’s annual General Meeting. There wasn’t necessarily a lot of news broken during Wednesday’s conference call, but the claims of confidence do seem to be the strongest to date.
NASL CEO Aaron Davidson Expresses Confidence In Division 2 Sanctioning
#NASL's Davidson, "Everyday points forward on this. … We have delivered on the standards."
Triangle Offense
IndyweekSports
In the meantime, the NASL has been operating as business-as-usual as a league in its position reasonably could. They’ve been conducting combines, releasing schedules and generally plowing forward as if the season were not in jeopardy. The reality, of course, is not so clear.
Davidson once again seemed to indicate that playing as a Division 3 league was not a viable option and he has never indicated that the league would attempt to play without any kind of sanctioning. It really does seem to be D2 or bust for the fledgling league.
One piece of news, at least, has been settled. Davidson confirmed that Traffic USA was the winning bidder for the Carolina Railhawks name and that the Carolina team would play under the Railhawks name, although it will officially be a new organization.
The other somewhat significant news that came out of the conference call was what seems to have led to the NASL losing its sanctioning in the first place. While Davidson had alluded to it in the past, he confirmed that the big hangup was whether or not the individual teams’ letters of credit would be considered one lump sum or not. Originally, some owners apparently balked at the idea of being held responsible for other owners’ potential failures. Davidson insisted that issue has been settled. He also indicated that the Puerto Rico Islanders, who have been one of the more successful on-field clubs, have not been as successful financially and were potentially not up to the D2 standards.
“They’ve always been humble and candid,” Davidson said, according to Indy Week. “They’ve always been up front about where they’re lacking from a business perspective and where we could help them.—with best standards, best practices.
“You’re starting to see those things implemented right now.”
See More:
