MISL SETTLEMENT AVERTS PLAYER STRIKE

Published March 28, 1986 in the Dallas Morning News.

Reprinted with permission

A tentative 3-year agreement between the Major Indoor Soccer League and its players prevented the players from striking just after midnight Thursday.

The agreement, most of which had been hammered out earlier in the day, was finally settled at about 6:30 p.m., when the MISL Players Association agreed to the implementation of a salary cap next season. In return, the owners, who had wanted a $1.25 million cap, raised the ceiling to $1.275 million, said New York attorney Adin Goldberg, the MISL's chief negotiator, and John Kerr, MISLPA director of operations.
"The owners will ratify it tomorrow, and I don't know when the players will vote on it, but I don't expect any problems,' Goldberg said. Kerr said the agreement should be ratified by the players within the week.

The strike deadline, which was set for 12:01 a.m. Friday, was postponed until 12:01 a.m. Saturday pending the ratification by the owners, Kerr said.

"I'm happy with it. I won't go as far to say I'm overjoyed with it,' Kerr said. "Hopefully, this agreement will steer the MISL in the right direction. The players in Dallas were very instrumental in getting this pushed through. They were tremendous and very supportive.'

Most of the critical issues were agreed to earlier in the day when the restrictions on new foreign players were set at 18 for next season, 15 during 1987-88 and 12 the final year of the pact.

Additionally, six Canadians with "H-1' visas, meaning players of "star quality,' will be allowed to enter the league each year of the contract.

The cap will not immediately force clubs over the set figure to comply by next season.

"This isn't like the deal the North American Soccer League had where each year each team had to cut its payroll by 10 percent,' Goldberg said. "Any team over the cap is not mandated to come under the cap, except if a player already on the roster is cut, traded or retires.'

Goldberg said that if a team which is over the $1.275 million limit loses a player any of those reasons, the roster replacement can be signed for 50 percent of the departing player's salary or for the club's average salary, which ever is higher. That remains in effect until the club's payroll meets the salary cap limit.

"This way none of the existing players have to take an immediate salary cut, which I think many players thought,' Goldberg said.

"The cap is not fixed. It floats depending on gross revenues of the league,' Kerr said. "If revenues go up, the money increases by the same percentage. We've reached a partnership with management in that manner.'