WPS 2012 Season Cancelled

Around a week ago, the U.S Women’s national soccer team was celebrating their victory against Canada, winning the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament. It was a great day for women’s soccer; the game was played in front of a sold-out crowd, Abby Wambach moved to No. 2 on the all-time goal scoring list, and the U.S. Women’s National Team had just secured their place in the 2012 London Olympics.

With the large support the U.S National Team received throughout the Olympic qualifying tournament, the WPS players were excited to see what their season would bring, which was planned to start in a couple of months. However, the women’s professional soccer league has cancelled its 2012 season.

The league’s board of governors voted to suspend operations in 2012 “to permit the league to focus on the resolution of certain pending legal issues and the challenges that now face the league as a result of its ongoing dispute with a former owner.” This owner has been named as the former magicjack owner Dan Borislow, and he has been engaged in a legal battle with the WPS after the league terminated his Florida-based franchise last year.

Only a month after the WPS terminated his ownership rights on October 25, 2011, Borislow filed a lawsuit looking for reinstatement of the team. It appeared only a couple of weeks ago, that this legal battle had been stopped, with a legal compromise reportedly reached that would have allowed magicjack team to play exhibition games against other WPS teams. However, only recently, a judge ruled in favor of Borislow in stating that WPS did not follow procedure in eliminating the club. The representatives for the WPS considered various options to try and keep things going; settlement options, discussing union legal action to intervene in the lawsuit, but they just couldn’t manage to make things work.

Reaction by Kelly Smith, England’s all-time leading scorer, and Sky Blue FC player:

“It was a total shock to receive the email from the league…it’s a big year for women’s football with the Euros and Olympics”.

Kelly Smith, and all former WPS players are now searching for new clubs following the termination of the league, many of whom need to be playing regularly in preparation of the Olympic games.

The future of the league is uncertain. With the US women competing in the Olympics, this will be another chance to capture the nation’s attention, and possibly instill hope for the WPS in 2013.

Another MLB Latin American Player gets busted for falsifying their Identity and Age.

The 2011 Opening Day starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, Fausto Carmona, whose real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia was arrested on Thursday in the Dominican Republic for using a false identity to play baseball in the United States. With the arrest, it was also revealed that the player is actually 31 years old and not 28 as he claimed. On Friday, he offered a tearful apology to the team's fan base and was released on a $13,000 bail.

Carmona was the second Dominican player to be arrested for using a false identity in the last few months. In December, Leo Nunez, whose real name is Juan Carlos Oviedo was arrested as well. He has since signed a new contract with the Miami Marlins to continue to be their closer.

Unfortunately, this raises the question of player ethics and whether these players, who lie about their age and identity to play in the US, should be rewarded for their crimes. Nunez recently signed a $6M deal and Carmona is set to make $7 million this year. The team also holds options for 2013 at $9 million and 2014 at $12 million. Can this be considered a breach of contract and can the team revoke their contract with Carmona? Now that the pitcher is 3 years older i'm sure the team will be looking to go over this contract and see if they have a chance of lowering the amount of money due to the player.

Upon doing some further research on the matter, it appears that falsifying their identity to gain entry into the US to play baseball is not a new problem for MLB. A few years ago, all star Shorstop Miguel Tejada was caught lying about his age and the spelling of his surname. He was actually two years older then he claimed when he first signed a MLB contract.

Besides it being unethical for the players to do this, it is also a cause for concern for national security because of how easy a player can change their identity to gain access into the US. At the end of the day, should a player who is caught lying about their identity and age be allowed to play in MLB without any penalty or should they be punished like players who use performance enhancing drugs? It seems like the MLB will need to address this common practice amongst foreign born players.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7484132/cleveland-indians-fausto-carmona-asks-fans-forgiveness