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NEW YORK (AP) — The North American Soccer League canceled its 2018 season after a federal court appeals court denied its attempt to maintain second-tier status.
The NASL held second-tier status in the U.S. Soccer Federation from 2011 through last year. It filed an antitrust suit against USSF in September after its status was not renewed and asked for an injunction to preserve it. A District Court denied the injunction in November, a decision upheld Friday by a unanimous three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
NASL Interim Commissioner Rishi Sehgal says in a statement Tuesday "playing the 2018 season is no longer a possibility" but it will press ahead with the antitrust suit and hopes to resume play in 2019.
Three NASL teams, the Jacksonville Armada, Miami and the New York Cosmos, intend to play this year in the National Premier Soccer League, which has not been designated as part of the USSF soccer pyramid.
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