MLS

NEW YORK — Six FC Dallas players have tested positive for COVID-19, Major League Soccer (MLS) said on Wednesday, a week ahead of the kickoff of the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando, Florida.

Two of the positive tests came "immediately" after the players arrived at the host hotel in Florida on June 27, while another four players tested positive within the last two days.

"Every member of the FC Dallas traveling party had tested negative for COVID-19 through an MLS-mandated testing service prior to the club's departure on Saturday morning," the team said.

Major League Soccer announced it was suspending all matches on March 12, joining the rest of the United States’ major leagues in halting play. The league has said it remains committed to finishing the 2020 season in full, but when will MLS resume play?

Two Atlanta United players and one player on expansion club Inter Miami CF have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Per the Atlanta United, their two unidentified players are asymptomatic and are in isolation.

In a statement Saturday, Atlanta United said the club will continue non-contact training on Monday. If negative test results for all players and staff are received on that day, the club will resume full team training on Tuesday.

On Friday, exactly 155 years after Union troops marched into Galveston, Texas, to announce to all enslaved people in Texas they were free, more than 70 black players in MLS joined together to announce the creation the Black Players Coalition to fight the racial inequalities in that still exist in the league and the country. 

Former United States soccer coach Bruce Arena questioned the relevance of playing the country's national anthem before matches in professional sports leagues, saying it was inappropriate.

Arena said he understood why some athletes take a knee to protest racial discrimination during pre-match renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner," saying it was appropriate as long as it was respectful.

Bill Hamid, one of the best goalkeepers in MLS, took to social media to trash restrictive social distancing rules surrounding the upcoming MLS Is Back Tournament. This being social media in 2020, it took no time at all for someone to point out how Hamid has failed to properly social distance himself lately.

Longtime U.S. men's national team member Fabian Johnson is seeking a move to MLS, according to a report.

Kristian Dyer of Sports Illustrated tweeted that Johnson, who plays for Borussia Monchengladbach of the Bundesliga, has been in contact with "multiple" MLS teams through his agent.

Rivalries highlight the 'MLS is Back Tournament' after a draw on Thursday pitted regional foes against each other in a return to action following a three-month coronavirus hiatus.

All 26 MLS teams will congregate at Disney World resort in Orlando for a tournament without spectators that will start on July 8 and crown a winner on Aug. 11.

The stage is set. Who takes it all?  pic.twitter.com/u5jDSUItCi