MLS Addresses 2002 Competition Issues

NEW YORK (Tuesday, February 5, 2002) - In preparation for the League's seventh season, Major League Soccer's Competition Committee ratified the formation of 22-player rosters and the continuation of the League's "first to five points" playoff format, Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis announced today.

The new regulations, which also include the elimination of the Marquee Player Replacement Rule, take effect immediately. In conjunction with the reconfiguration of roster requirements to include four Developmental Players, Gazidis also announced a change in the league's player designation structure.

DEVELOPMENTAL SQUADS CREATED

With the addition of four Developmental Roster positions on every team, all MLS clubs will have an expanded roster of 22 players. The contracts of all four members of a team's Developmental Roster will not count against a team's salary budget. All those players signed to contracts through Nike Project-40 will also be classified as Developmental and count within the four-man Developmental player limit (until they graduate to the senior roster).

"Creating these Developmental Roster positions will allow the League to expand its developmental player pool and integrate and develop quality players into team squads with more flexibility," said Gazidis. "These changes create more opportunities for teams to cultivate local talent."

Players signed to Developmental Contracts must be 23-years old or younger throughout the calendar year of the season in question. All developmental players will remain eligible for MLS and USL competition during the length of their agreement. The discovery period for Developmental Players will begin in early March and teams will have unlimited discovery opportunities for Developmental Players.

Young international players will now and in the future either be Developmental Players, who sign developmental contracts, or Transitional International players, who count against a team's senior roster and salary budget. Teams are permitted up to three Senior Internationals each (unchanged from last season) and unlimited Transitional Internationals, subject only to an overall League limitation of 20 Transitional Internationals League-wide.

Grandfathered under the new designations until the 2003 season are D.C.'s Jose Alegria and the Burn's Josue Mayard, the only two players who would have qualified for the now-defunct category of "Junior Internationals" in 2002.

MARQUEE PLAYER REPLACEMENT RULE ELIMINATED

Repealed was the rule allowing teams to designate three players who were subject to being replaced in the event of a long-term injury on or before June 30. Created to provide salary budget cap relief to teams enduring injuries to key players, the rule allowed the Chicago Fire to re-acquire Ante Razov following Josh Wolff's foot injury in 2001.

"FIRST TO FIVE POINTS" PLAYOFF FORMAT RETAINED

The Competition Committee also rendered a decision to retain the current structure for the MLS Cup Playoffs through the 2002 season. Featuring a "first team to five points" format over the course of a three-game series, the system will continue the use of a 10-minute, golden-goal Series Tiebreaker should the competing teams remain even in points at the conclusion of Game Three.

2002 MLS COMPETITION GUIDELINES

Rosters
For the 2002 season MLS Rosters will include 22 players, four of which must be signed to either a Nike Project-40 or Developmental contract. Up to three Senior Internationals can occupy one of the 18 remaining roster positions.

Nike Project-40 Players
Nike Project-40 players are developmental players selected by teams through the SuperDraft or, if signed after the SuperDraft, through the lottery system. Nike Project-40 Players do not count against a team's salary budget until graduation from the program. Players signed to Nike Project-40 Contracts receive an educational stipend.

Player Classification
-- Senior Internationals: Any non-greencard holding foreign player 25 years of age or older (during the season under consideration) will be considered a Senior International (Some international players younger than 25 can be considered Senior Internationals due to their contract structure).

-- Transitional Internationals: Any young international player will count as a Transitional International until the beginning of the year in which they are due to reach the age of 25, at which time they will be re-classified as a Senior International.

-- Developmental Players (domestic or international): Each team will have four Developmental Players on its roster. The contracts for these players will not count against a team's salary budget. In addition to Nike Project-40 signees, a team's Developmental roster can only include players 23 years of age or younger during the season in question.

Note: Due to the elimination of Junior International status, two players (Jose Alegria - D.C. United, and Josue Mayard - Dallas) will receive grandfathered roster protection in 2002. Beginning in 2003 they must assume either Transitional or Senior International status or sign Developmental contracts.

Means of Player Acquisition

-- Allocated Players
These players are allocated to teams through the league office. Each year, additional allocations are decided upon and made by the League's Competition Committee and based upon players lost and the teams' on-field records in the previous year. Allocated player spots may be traded.

-- Drafted Players
These are players drafted by teams in the annual MLS SuperDraft. These players include college players, A-League players, Nike Project-40 players and Youth Internationals, among others. The draft order is based upon the teams' on-field records during the previous year. Drafted players and draft picks may be traded with league approval.

-- Discovery Players
A team may request that the league sign a U.S. or international player who is not currently under contract to MLS and assign the player to the requesting team. A team may add no more than two senior roster Discovery players by request in any calendar year, and shall have no more than four Discovery players on its senior roster at any time. Teams may trade Discovery players but may not trade Discovery player "spots."

Teams will have unlimited discovery opportunities for Developmental players.

-- USL Call-Up Players
MLS teams can call-up USL players on a short-term loan basis. In order to be eligible for a USL call-up, the player proposed to be called up must have been on a USL roster as of May 15 during the season in question and must have played at least two games for the USL team.

Print this article >>