Three Puerto Rican Teams Removed from the USL Pro

I'm taking a break from the USL Pro Weekly Observations to talk about some devastating news came out today. The three USL Pro teams based in Puerto Rico, River Plate Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico United, and Sevilla FC Puerto Rico were removed from the league. Yes, they didn't leave, they were removed.

The Puerto Rican teams failed to meet some of the standards of the USL. 2 of the 3 teams suffered major economic problems and medical stituation that forced the USL to remove the PRSL teams from the league.

USL CEO Alec Papadakis had this to say on the situation:

"In the best interests of USL PRO and its teams, it was necessary to remove the three PRSL teams. USL PRO has established high standards which are an integral component of the league model, and we are determined to preserve the integrity of these standards on and off the field. Dealing proactively with this situation allows us to reset our daily focus on supporting the efforts of our USL PRO teams in maintaining the league’s position as the strongest, best operated domestic league below MLS.”

There signs of this from the beginning of the season, especially in the case of Puerto Rico United.

An anonymous commenter on this blog posted this on one of my articles on April 20th:

"To say Puerto Rico United is a mess is an understatement! Been speaking to their players. Their owner is a joke, a phony and a habitual liar. He promises uniforms, places to live, player signings, and paychecks. He has come through on NOTHING!! These players have hung in there for the love of the game and a chance to play USL football. Players have been there for many weeks and NOT ONE HAS SEEN A SINGLE CENT. He shows occasionally and makes a promise to, THE NEXT DAY, pay them, move them into decent housing, and get them decent uniforms. He has done this repeatedly . He has broken these promises EVERY time he's made them. League officials need to step in and stop this player abuse or risk the integrity and reputation of the entire league."

Strong words.

Each team will still play 24 regular season matches, but some tweaking of the schedules will have to be made. So we might be seeing some teams more than twice.

Besides that, the main effect this will have on the Battery will be who we play on one of our nationally televised games. July 1st we were supposed to play Puerto Rico United, but this will not happen. We'll have to wait and see who we play, and if this game will still be televised, but I assume it will be.

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