MLS: 3 questions regarding Orlando City resumption plan

On Wednesday, details of MLS’ plan to resume the season in a knockout-style competition in Orlando were released. Here are three questions regarding the proposal.

Amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, Major League Soccer is pressing forwards with plans to resume the season, which is hoped to begin sometime in late-June or early-July. As initially reported by Steven Goff and the Washington Post and since expanded by The Athletic, the details of the plan include a tournament-style competition played over four or five weeks with all teams based at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando. Players, coaches and staff well isolate themselves in hotels nearby, all games will be played behind-closed-doors, and streamed via various TV companies across America and Canada.

We have three questions that the proposal needs to answer.

3. Is the MLS Players’ Association on board?

Perhaps the most contentious element of this plan is to isolate entire teams, coaching staffs, and media members for what will ultimately two-plus months once training time, which could begin as early as June 1st, is considered. Is the MLS Players’ Association on board?

The Athletic’s report states:

"“There’s also the question of whether the players would even agree to the plan. Sources described all parties, players included, as motivated to return to play, but several said that the MLS Players Association would want firm assurances as to the length of the tournament and safety precautions before it signs off on sending its members to Orlando for an extended period of time.”"

There are questions regarding the safety of the players and the ease at which COVID-19 could spread given the physical nature of the sport, while distancing from families, children, spouses, and local communities for such an extended period of time is difficult, too. These are not impossible problems to solve, of course, but they must be answered.