The Kansas City Wizards announced that forward Paul Wright has been waived. Wright, 29, was a third round supplemental pick in the 1996 draft and one of eight Wizards players to play in Kansas City since the inception of Major League Soccer. He appeared in six games this season without tallying a point, and scored 11 goals and assisted on 13 others in 83 career MLS games. Wright will be put on the MLS waiver wire, and has 72 hours to be picked up by another team. General manager Doug Newman has invited Trinidadian forwards Arnold Dwarika and Irasto Knights to be non-roster players for the Wizards. They are set to arrive in Kansas City on Tuesday, May 11. Dwarika and Knights have 72 and nine appearances, respectively, for the Trinidad and Tobago national team. U.S. Soccer supports MLS referee exchange program U.S. Soccer has issued the following public statement about the league’s referee exchange program: “The United States Soccer Federation expresses its support for our Division I league (Major League Soccer) and the International Referee Exchange Program. “Despite public comments made by one of our national board members, U.S. Soccer stands firmly behind these two programs. The comments made by Mr. Kevin Payne, president of D.C. United, do not represent the position of U.S. Soccer. “In order to develop soccer in America it is important that our players be exposed to not only a variety of top level international referees, but also experience the different styles of refereeing throughout the world. This program accomplishes that at the highest FIFA standards. “Equally important is that our referees travel to other countries to officiated top level international players, another accomplishment of the current exchange program. “It is only through these types of programs initiated by MLS and U.S. Soccer, that we will continue to grow the sport in America.”