Teams run into snags with new player classifications
MLS coaches may soon be required to check for passports and green cards as well as determine whether a promising young player can cut the ball back from the goal line under pressure.
The league operates in a Byzantine world of player codes and classifications, and more than a few teams have been stranded red-faced and player-less by immigration improprieties.
Latest case in point is the Los Angeles Galaxy, which had to cut two players invited to preseason camp by head coach Sigi Schmid and picked in the MLS SuperDraft.
Schmid followed new MLS guidelines that classify players selected through the draft as eligible to be granted classification as junior and transitional internationals. Jose Retiz, 20, was listed on the original list of 12 players granted such status, and Tomas Serna, 21, had been placed on a waiting list.
(U.S. Soccer authorized MLS to sign and classify 12 such players this season. MLS hopes to increase that number to 24 for the 2001 season.)
These categories were invented by the league to fit young, foreign-born players into the league’s restrictions on non-Americans and to soften the effect of an anticipated reduction next season in senior internationals (those aged 25 and up).
What Schmid didn’t do was check on the players’ residency status. Natives of Mexico, they had lived in Southern California for more than a decade but did not hold green cards.
“We knew they didn’t hold green cards, but having tried to get students into UCLA, I assumed they had student visas,” said Schmid. “That was a bad assumption on my part. It’s out of our hands. Until they take care of their situations, there’s not much we can do.”
Questions regarding their immigration status surfaced when the Galaxy began planning preliminary preseason trips to Mexico and Argentina. As natives of Mexico who could not produce green cards or other evidence of legal U.S. immigrant status, they would not have been permitted to legally re-enter the United States, nor could they legally obtain work visas.
The Galaxy issued a press release March 17 stating the players had been waived, but since they had never signed MLS contracts, they were not subject to MLS waiver procedures.
In effect, they were cut after having trained with the team for more than a month. According to the Galaxy, the players were never paid. Galaxy general manager Sergio Del Prado wasn’t sure if they’d been paid a per-diem.
Los Angeles immigration attorney Barbara Federmann was contracted by the league to obtain work visas for the pair but stopped once they were unable to provide proper documentation of legal immigrant status. She would not comment on other aspects of the case.
“Unfortunately, we might someday get their situations cleared up, but not in time for this season,” said Del Prado. “It’s too bad, because they’re both good players, and having lived here for 10 or 15 years, you’d think they’d be able to play pro soccer in this country.”
Retiz and Serna personify the pitfalls of seeking young talent in the ethnic enclaves of the United States. Obtaining work visas for accomplished foreign players can be much simpler than clarifying the status of a foreign-born resident.
Chino stuck in Lima
D.C. United has tried for more than a year to obtain clearance for Jose “Chino” Alegria to join the team. The native of Lima, Peru, attended high school in Springfield, Va., and was scheduled to be allocated to United as a Project-40 player, but the club and the league were unaware he was not a citizen.
He has been in Peru for more than a year trying to obtain a work visa. D.C. United has hired an immigration lawyer to work on his case and has sought help from numerous entities, including U.S. Soccer and local government officials.
“It’s an ongoing process,” said D.C. United general manager Kevin Payne. “We’re hopeful we can get it all straightened out and he’ll be able to join us.”
The selection and employment of junior and transitional internationals is new to MLS, but it has dealt with immigration issues since its formation. And its complications are piddling compared to those of the North American Soccer League, which in its heyday had many more teams and in its 18-year history employed hundreds of foreign players.
Former Wizards head coach Ron Newman spent three decades dealing with foreign-player issues during his days in the NASL, ASL, MISL and MLS.
“The players would come over here on holiday, with a tourist visa, so we could see if they could actually kick the ball,” said Newman, who was fired by Kansas City last season. “You didn’t want to be running around trying to get [work] visas for every Tom, Dick and Harry that walked through the door.”
When appraised of the two former Galaxy players, Newman said, “You didn’t draft those players unless you were sure they either had visas or could get them. I think Sigi was a little wet behind the ears that time.”
Agogo on the go?
The situation of Chicago Fire forward Junior Agogo, a native of Ghana who came to MLS from the English League, brings forth another nuance.
Since all of the available 12 slots for junior and transitional internationals are filled, he is currently classified as a senior international although he is only 20 and thus currently counts against the team’s roster and its salary cap.
One reason Agogo is being shopped around the league is to bring Chicago back under the cap. To clear space for Hristo Stoitchkov, the Fire had to trade Francis Okaroh and waive Paul Dougherty and John Ball.
But by dropping keeper Greg Sutton and signing Chris Snitko, it has once again gone over the cap.
If Agogo was a transitional international, Chicago could keep him without regard to salary-cap constraints. (Agogo, Dougherty and Okaroh all count against the cap at approximately $65,000 apiece.)
MLS has dropped Retiz and Serna from the permitted list of 12 junior and transitional internationals.
“I think they’re just the tip of the iceberg,” said Schmid. “They’re both talented players, and they’re typical of the kinds of players you’ll find in L.A., in Miami, in New York, and other places.”
by Soccer America senior editor Ridge Mahoney