MLS Clubs Are Choosing to Play on FIFA Dates

This past December, in an interview with ESPNFC, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber mentioned that the league had, in 2015, given clubs the option of whether or not to play on FIFA international dates. He added that they would also be given that option for the 2016 season. Said Garber:

“We all know that we have schedule challenges, and that we’re trying to fit a lot of different things into our calendar. It gets very difficult to do everything we want to do. In 2015, we gave teams the option of taking a break [during FIFA fixture windows]. We’ll go forward with that approach in 2016. We’ll look again if that’s the right way to manage FIFA dates in 2017.”

In early January, prior to the 2016 schedule being released, MLS Vice-President of Club Services and Scheduling, Brad Pursel, reiterated this fact in an interview with MLSSoccer.com, saying:

“FIFA dates are optional for clubs to play on; it’s their choice. From a league perspective, we see the value in having them be honored, meaning no MLS games take place. But we also respect that our teams may want to play on those dates if they’re not going to lose many players to call-ups.”

Over the years, a number of MLS players and coaches have expressed displeasure at having MLS play through FIFA dates, including Michael Bradley last year, who said in an interview with the Seattle Times:

“I never want to miss anything for anyone. The most frustrating part of MLS at the moment is that we still, in a lot of places, play through FIFA dates…It’s a lose-lose for players. As a player, you hope at some point the league will make the decision to stop playing through the international dates.”

In 2013, after a loss to the Colorado Rapids during an international window, LA Galaxy’s Bruce Arena said:

“It’s ridiculous we have to play these games in these windows. We have such a congested schedule. I don’t think we’ve played Colorado yet this year with our [full] team, which is ridiculous.”

When the Houston Dynamo were forced to play a late season game in 2013 without multiple starters, the middle of a playoff race, multiple players and then-coach Dominic Kinnear complained about the situation, and there have been other complaints as well.

So, if MLS teams hate playing on international dates so much, and if players hate it, and if fans hate it, and if the league gives teams the option of whether or not to play on a FIFA international date, then the solution should be easy, right? Teams would just say “No thanks, we’ll pass on playing while we have players away on national team duty,” right? Wrong.

In Garber’s comments in December, he mentioned that the league gave clubs the option to play or not play on international breaks in 2015. Every single MLS team played at least one game during an international break in the 2015 season. There were 10 MLS games in the first international break of the 2015 season alone.

When the MLS schedule was released last month, it included 16 games on FIFA international dates, and that doesn’t include games that take place during the Copa America, the European Championships, or the Olympics, which will certainly see MLS teams missing players. While MLS has said it will take a break for the Copa America group stage, there’s a decent chance that there will be at least a few MLS players on teams that advance out of the group stage, meaning more games will be missed. That number also doesn’t include games within a day or two of an international match date, which most players not named Giovinco are likely to miss if they have been on national team duty.

Now, this does represent some sort of progress. There are actually three teams, Montreal Impact, Orlando City, and Toronto FC, who are not playing any games on international match dates (though, for example, Orlando has a game on September 7, which any player playing on the September 6 FIFA match date is likely to miss). The fact that there are 16 games on international match dates, and no team plays more than three, is also a step in the right direction.

However, the fact that, given the choice whether or not to play on international dates, MLS clubs chose to play any games at all while potentially missing players to national team duty is not a good look for the league and its clubs.

It says, first and foremost, that MLS teams care more about having high attendance at every match than they do about being at their competitive best in every match. Skipping a weekend during an international break likely means an extra midweek game. Midweek games are often less well attended than weekend games. So, by playing on FIFA dates, MLS clubs are saying attendance, and therefore revenue, is more important than putting your best eleven on the field in every game.

Maybe this is a consequence of having half of the league make the playoffs, meaning a team can basically throw away a handful of games throughout the season and still compete for the most prized trophy in the league, the MLS Cup. Last year’s Portland Timbers were a perfect example of that. They were mediocre for most of the year before going on a run to finish third in the conference, make the playoffs, and go on a dream run to an MLS Cup title.

But, when Portland and FC Dallas meet on September 3, there will likely be playoff implications. The teams met in the Conference Final last year, and are predicted to be among the West’s best again. So, they’ll face off in September, likely with playoff positioning implications, and both teams will likely be missing key players to international call-ups.

That shouldn’t be okay. Fans should not accept this. As a supporter, people want to see their club have their best chance to win every game. When teams miss players to international duty, they sacrifice that. As an impartial, ticket buying customer, people want to see the biggest stars on the field. When teams miss players to international duty, the stars are gone.

It’s baffling, given the complaints from players and coaches around the league about having to play during international breaks, that teams are actually making the choice to play these games on these dates.

Sure, the teams will have their reasons: schedule congestion, travel, attendance, etc, but the fact of the matter is that leagues around the world take breaks for international matches, and they make it work within the schedule. For the sake of competitive purity, MLS needs to do the same. Apparently, the league has given clubs the choice on this one, and apparently, most clubs have apparently decided they don’t care.

I reached out to multiple MLS clubs about this, but they all declined to comment. One MLS front office did reportedly say that the club he works for chose to play on only one international date, but was still scheduled for for three matches on FIFA dates, which would clearly contradict statements coming directly from the league. If that’s the case, then there’s an entirely different problem of the league misrepresenting the actual scheduling process and placing the blame on clubs for something that may or may not be their decision.