The following are quotes from the June 15 MLS media teleconference, which featured MLS commissioner Doug Logan, MLS V.P. Ivan Gazidis, U.S. Pro-40 coach Lothar Osiander and U.S. Pro-40 defender Ubusuku Abukusumo. Doug Logan Opening Remarks “My sincere congratulations go out to Bruce Arena and the U.S. national team who did a spectacular job last weekend and to all the members of the national team for a great show in Washington D.C. We continue to be supportive of [Arena’s] plans for the development of the team. We all tip our hats to how the team is coming along.” “At this time I would like to confirm that over the course of the last three or four weeks we have been in a series of discussions trying to bring Lothar [Matthaeus] to this country, specifically to the MetroStars. We had reached a tentative agreement with the player subject to the acquiescence of his club [Bayern Munich] and we have been unable to get release from his club for this season. We think that anytime we have the opportunity to acquire a player of the stature of Lothar Matthaeus, we have to take that shot. It is unfortunate that we have been unsuccessful. It was not central to our plans in getting Lothar for the MetroStars. We had a meeting with Charlie Stillitano and the coaching staff this morning letting them know where we are with getting players to supplement their roster at this time. We are in discussions right now with four different potential players but we will not reveal who they are because the discussions are confidential in nature. If we are successful in our discussions than the MetroStars will be made significantly better.” “While Jorge Campos is still a part of MLS, given the complications with the competitions he is obliged to participate in this season, Jorge will not be joining any MLS club this season. We feel certain that sometime in the future Jorge will join us again.” “We are very excited about the prospects of Women’s World Cup and the coming five weeks, beginning with the opening matches this Saturday at Giants Stadium. Many of you are aware that we have been helping to promote this spectacular event for the last two years. We have had promotional field boards at all of our matches, promotional ads in our game programs and have been attempting to assist what we hope will be a huge success. We stand ready to help in any possible way. Two of the semifinal matches will be held in conjunction with MLS games, one in Boston and one at Stanford Stadium as doubleheaders. At the end of the day this event will really put women’s soccer on the map.” “We beat our average [attendance] last week and we are moving steadily toward our goal of an average of 15,000-plus attendance by July 4th weekend. We think that positions us well at having a growth in our attendance by the end of the season. We have five or six good matches this weekend so we are delighted about that.” “We are proud of what U.S. Pro-40 has done. They are in first place in the Central Division of the A-League, with a 10-4 record. Lothar is a central part of our player development program.” Lothar Osiander Opening Remarks “I think that our Project-40 program has some great possibilities for this year and the future. From where I am sitting the program is where it should be although there is always room for improvement. If we can graduate as many players this year as we did last year I think the program has an outstanding progress to it. On the whole, the winning record compared to last year can be credited to the higher expectations among the competition and from the players. We have been lucky. Some of the wins we could have lost. And last week’s loss to Vancouver was devastating. They really cleaned our clocks.” Ubusuku Abukusumo Opening Remarks “The Project-40 program is making significant strides, especially the last year and a half. I believe that the team has matured quite a bit from last season. The attitude of many of the players was that we shouldn’t be with the team (U.S. Pro-40), but with our first team (MLS), but this year we have matured as players. We have some new faces joining the veterans like Eric Quill, Jose Botello, Timmy Sahaydak, Judah Cooks and myself. We have definitely taken this season more personally. We want to show well and get looks from our MLS clubs. We have seen that with Antonio Otero [D.C. United], Jeff Bilyk [Miami] and Matt Chulis [Columbus]. They are now getting time with their team. Project-40 development as a whole has gotten better and I look [forward] to proving myself.” Logan on International Player Announcements “We are pleased to announce that Canadian national team forward Alex Bunbury has been allocated to Kansas City. Alex scored 15 goals in the Portuguese First division this past winter, which was fourth in the league. We are delighted to have Alex join Major League Soccer. This fills out the needs expressed to us by the Wizards.” Logan on the Impact of WWC on Major League Soccer “It is additional attention to the sport of soccer and I don’t see it eroding our attendance. If they draw 80,000 to Giants Stadium this weekend the Fire Marshall will have a fit because seating capacity is 78,000. Attention to this game helps us all. We are delighted. We think that all the attention is in addition to the coverage that we have gotten and we don’t think that it will erode or cannibalize our coverage. All of our advance sales are healthy and we are in pretty good shape. I will tell you five weeks from now. I think that it is unrealistic that we or any sport are going to get an uninterrupted season in today’s day and age. It doesn’t happen anymore. Our activities are complimentary to Women’s World Cup and I don’t see it as competitive at all.” Gazidis on Bunbury “We have had a couple of preliminary inquires from Alex the past couple of years but nothing serious until this year. His destination has always been Kansas City. Alex has expressed a great interest in contributing to what we are doing. We welcome that and are very excited. Alex wanted a new challenge, in a new league, and he wanted to make an impact and help to develop the sport here.” Gazidis on Update for MetroStars International Player Allocation “Lothar Matthaeus will play out the remainder of his 1999 contract with Bayern Munich. It’s not entirely unexpected, although a little disappointing, but certainly not something that has taken us by surprise. We have some irons in the fire and we are making some progress but it is not appropriate to talk about it. To do so would hinder what we are trying to do from a negotiating standpoint. It would be counterproductive to say I expect something to happen in the next week and that would end in disappointment. I would rather everybody feel that it is a development and not feel that it should have happened last week.” Osiander on the Strengths and Weaknesses of U.S. Pro-40 “We have decent goalkeepers and a few steady defenders in Ubusuku and Sahaydak. The midfielders are good and we rely on Sergi Daniv and Lazo Alavanja. Unfortunately some of the kids are injured or I haven’t seen the players like Jamar Beasley. The weakness of the team is that we change players every week with the exception of players like Eric Quill. The strength of the team is that the players realize they must perform on this level as well as the MLS level in order to become successful.” Gazidis on Marquee Players “The players that we are speaking to are marquee players. I can’t come up with a definition of what a marquee player is any better than what a good player is, an average player is or a very good player is. They are all important players and they will all have an impact on the field and ultimately, some maybe immediately, will have an impact at the gate as well.” Gazidis on Why Matthaeus was not Released “Bayern did not want to let him go. His recent form, which has been really tremendous, has not helped us in that regard. I think that they realize even more than before, what his value is to that team.” “He has a contractual obligation to Bayern through the end of next season. There is a good possibility that Bayern would let him out of the contract a bit earlier to accommodate our 2000 season. There is an interest on Lothar’s part in doing that. It is too early to say what the situation is going to be on our part in 2000, so the commitment to doing that is in our hands.” Logan on Player Appeals on Red and Yellow Cards “We have been and are looking at the video of the Columbus-D.C. match where the referee may have made calls that are subject to discussion and we are examining that. From the standpoint of a formal appeals process for cards, we don’t plan to embark on that. We think that for the most part that the infractions that are called on the field are sustainable. What we are trying to do is get the refereeing system better. From time to time there will be a match or two that is embroiled with controversy.” Osiander on Player Appeal Process “There would be too much confusion on what is appealable and what isn’t. Once a decision is made the player should have to live with it. The adjustment should be made by having better referees as the league grows.” Abukusumo on Player Appeal Process “I think that most of the decisions you need to live with. We are all humans and at some point the calls are going to go against you and some aren’t. You just have to deal with it.” Gazidis on Harut Karapetyan “Harut is currently free of contract. It is not a situation where Los Angeles has a player allocation spot for Harut and we have procedures how our players are allocated to teams. It is not just a question of the teams scrambling and the Galaxy saying we want Harut, therefore we should have him. At this point he is not under contract with the league and if we manage to reach an agreement for him to be assigned to a team in the league, then I welcome it.” Gazidis on Los Angeles’ Player Allocation History “Los Angeles has had tremendous players allocated to them over time. Over the first three years L.A. has been very successful, it just hasn’t been able to pull the trigger at the final analysis. If you look at the team this year, the team has had difficulty scoring but if you look at how few goals they have let in you will see they are very much competitive. It all depends on what happens over the course of the next few months and into the postseason. They have a real chance this season if they start putting it together in front of the goal.” Logan on MetroStars’ Future Foreign Allocation “We are trying to acquire a couple of players. We are in discussions with four, although that doesn’t mean we will contract all four. We are trying to acquire a couple of players that the MetroStars are entitled to as a consequence of trades or rights which they had inherently at the beginning of the year. If we are able to satisfy those needs this year, with players that will have a long-term impact for the MetroStars, than that is one situation. When a player of Matthaeus’ stature becomes available under conditions that we think are with in our budget than we will pursue those options. Exactly where a player will go and under what conditions is something we will leave for that time period.”