By Ben Nicholson
December 8 – The MLS Board of Governors made multiple announcements over the weekend looking forward to the 2016 season, in addition to signalling intent to expand to 28 teams and rubber stamping David Beckham’s location of choice for his expansion franchise’s stadium.
A controversial directive, largely ignored in virtue of Beckham and Miami stealing the spotlight, was issued in a rule change for the 2016 MLS All-Star game. If a player is selected for the All-Star game but cannot play due to injury, he is automatically ineligible to play in his team’s next game.
He will, however, be entitled to receive credit for playing in the matches, thus mitigating any player fallout that may occur by ensuring that bonuses will still be paid.
The rule appears to clamp down on teams and players who avoid the game for bogus reasons, while potentially harming those players who have legitimate short term injuries that could keep them out of contention for the All-Star game but healthy for a league game the week after.
The league’s belief that this rule is necessary indicates not only that there is a problem with players feigning hurt, but also indicates the commercial priorities of the league. Players are now incentivized to risk escalating minor injuries at the showcase All-Star game.
Six players dropped out of the 2015 All-Star Game for injury reasons: Michael Bradley, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Obafemi Martins, Robbie Keane and Sebastian Giovinco.
Here are the other updates that were provided:
· The MLS will have a two-week break during the the Copa América Centenario, which is to be hosted in the U.S.
· The intention was expressed to continue looking into the possibility of trialling and introducing video replays during games.
· ‘Decision Day,’ where all MLS teams play their final conference games on the same day, will be a repeat facet of the 2016 season.
· There is a new mandatory temperature threshold for water breaks, which stipulates that cooling breaks are required if the temperature is above 82 WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature). The previous level was 89.6. Twelve 2015 MLS games would have been affected by this rule.
· Targeted Allocation Money was discussed at the meeting and a further announcement is forthcoming (with the expectation that it will be continued and potentially expanded).
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