The U.S. Soccer Federation said on Wednesday it was shutting down its youth development academy permanently due to the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. Soccer, the sport's governing body in the United States, said in a statement the decision to shutter the academy, which it founded in 2007 and included competitions across five age groups, was effective immediately.
Major League Soccer will not return until at least June 8, according to multiple reports. The timetable is in line with the latest official word from MLS, which was confirmation that a hoped for mid-May return would not happen due to the ongoing restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
Commissioner Don Garber said MLS remains focused on getting in as many games as possible. Garber expanded the league's guidelines prohibiting group workouts, which initially stretched to April 24.
Following Burundi’s announcement on Monday that its league is now suspended, one of the final bastions of actual football in the world fell by the wayside. So what do we do now? If you’re jonesing for some familiar faces and the sight of that sphere rolling around a green carpet, FIFA 20 has got you covered this week with the beginning of two massive tournaments featuring some world-renowned players.
MLS commissioner Don Garber told ESPN that the league will explore alternative formats when it comes to completing the 2020 season. Garber said that MLS is "focused at getting in as many as games as possible" if play resumes following the coronavirus pandemic.
Los Angeles Galaxy assistant coach Dominic Kinnear and former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam are candidates for the FC Cincinnati coaching vacancy, The Athletic reported.
Kinnear, 52, previously served as head coach of the San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo, leading the Dynamo to MLS Cup wins in 2006 and 2007. He has been with the Galaxy since 2017.
Stam, 47, has managed several clubs in Europe, including Reading in England and PEC Zwolle and Feyenoord in The Netherlands, his home country.
Donald Trump’s feud with women’s soccer players continued on Saturday as he spoke with the commissioners of every major sports league in the U.S. with one exception: the NWSL.
To no one’s surprise, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and PGA commissioners were all invited. Somewhat surprisingly, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, LPGA’s Michael Whan and MLS’s Don Garber also got invites. Also included were UFC and NASCAR, which probably speak to Trump’s base, and WWE, which is more akin to Broadway than sport.
But no National Women’s Soccer League.
When North American sports leagues return to action after the coronavirus crisis, questions are sure to linger over whether the fans will be willing, or have the resources, to pack stadiums as they once did, sports analysts have said.
Former New England Revolution defender Marshall Leonard has traded in his soccer uniform for one of an attending physician in a New York City-area hospital. Leonard's newest job — which will be in a region that has been hit extremely hard by the coronavirus pandemic — was revealed by his brother on social media.
"So my brother starts as an attending in a NYC area emergency room tomorrow," Franklin Leonard wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
The Revolution couldn't be happier for one of their former players.
John DeBrito, an original member of the New England Revolution, died at age 51.
The cause of DeBrito's death on Wednesday was not immediately known.
Los Angeles FC forward Carlos Vela said the Major League Soccer club prevented him from joining FC Barcelona in January.
The reigning MLS Most Valuable Player made the comments in an interview with GQ Mexico magazine that was published Friday.