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Source: Women’s Professional Soccer suspends operations for 2012

Jeff Kassouf January 30, 2012 12

Women’s Professional Soccer has suspended operations for the 2012 season, sources confirmed early Monday morning. WPS struggled through another turbulent off-season that saw the league drop from six teams to five – an all-time low – after terminating the ill-tempered Dan Borislow’s magicJack team from the league.

That led to a fight for survival with the U.S. Soccer Federation, which eventually decided to sanction WPS as a top-tier women’s soccer league for 2012, on the condition that WPS grow to six teams by 2013 and eight teams by 2014. Less than two months after that decision, WPS will not even play in 2012.

The plan is to come back in 2013 – presumably with at least those six teams that U.S. Soccer will require as a minimum – but a year of darkness for a league whose sport just peaked at the 2011 Women’s World Cup last summer could be the end of women’s pro soccer for the foreseeable future.

Much of the decision to suspend operations for 2012 has been attributed to the on-going legal battle with Borislow. After his team was terminated, he opened up a legal battle against WPS for reinstatement. Borislow and WPS settled on having magicJack play a series of exhibition games for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, a compromise that further shattered the legitimacy of WPS as it tried to move out of Borislow’s shadow.

Charles Boehm has some more details over at National Soccer Wire. WPS is expected to release a statement at 1 p.m.

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  • Chuck

    Door shuts, window opens! Let’s take all that ownership energy and financial wherewithal and put it behind the W league or the WPSL and get a true nationwide league going where all of the good players have to face each other and we get soccer we can all go watch and a national team selection process that actually gets the best players in the country a chance to be seen!

    • yankiboy

      Chuck: I aprreciate your desire to make lemonaid out of lemons.

      Youv’e probably forgeotten more about the WPSL & W-League than I will ever know but I can’t see how this can be good for either one of them. Unless those organizations are going to try to get together with other parties like Peter Wilt recently suggested, I don’t see where the WPSL or W-League get any sort of big bump out of the WPS going under.

      I’ve seen W-League and WPSL league matches and I gotta tell ya–I respect and appreciate both those leagues’ places on the sportslandscape in the US and Canada (and Puerto Rico with the Capitals a few years back) but the play in those leagues–nobody can sell me on the idea that the quality of play was even close to the WPS.

      I’m pretty comfortable saying that the overwhelming majority of the best US players were plying their trade in the WPS…

      Maximum respect.

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  • necron99

    Not a good day for you to pile on I think. I am tired of the WPSL and W-League trying to poop on WPS. They came out in force during the sanctioning debate too, even the owners. If you want the best players then pay them. Your league exists, and you are happy to keep it at the level it is at. You keep trying to bring the WPS down to get those players into your league. Their are people who want a better league. It was the WPS, and it should be growing. Sadly it is getting sunk by some mistakes in dealing with a shitty owner.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Black/100002871590786 Dude

    WPS has obviously had mismanagement issues, but as far as Borislow goes, I’ve got to ask…how can a guy continue to hamstring the league, rather than step away graciously, and still claim to care about Women’s Soccer?

  • AFZ

    Oh wow, nice. All those talented college draftees that might not ever play for the US National Team will have to look for jobs now. Thanks oh so much Borislow, you arrogant self-centered jackass.

  • yankiboy

    DB: “He saved the league. He killed the league.” Sure–it is an incredible oversimplification,

    I know. The WPS hadn’t been shy about admitting that they would rather go dark for a while rather than let Borislaw impose his will on the league and put up with his shennanigans.

    Is it just me or doe anyone else find it bitterly ironic that the same man who professes to want only the best for women’s professional soccer has played such a pivotal role in aiding in its demise.

    Of course, the WPS has some blood on it’s hands, as well.

    Other than going to more Washington Freddom games, hitting the lottery and investing it into the club, there’s not much more that the average Joe or Jane the fan could have done with that situation.

    Incredibly frustrating…

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Black/100002871590786 Dude

    Besides showcasing really good soccer, what I’ve always liked about WPS is that it was made up of self-empowered women.
    They set an example for others…not just for the young girls who look up to them…but also for the women and men who admire and respect them.

    They simply inspire people.

    And women’s soccer will certainly continue to inspire, whether that’s with the WNT at the Olympics, in domestic women’s soccer leagues besides WPS, or in leagues overseas.
    But I certainly hope that Professional women’s soccer will pick up here again in the US in the near future. If you look at the cultural and sports landscape here in America for women, it’s obvious that it’s needed.

  • rk_cambridge

    This hurts a bit.

    I would love to see some matches after the Olympics with the 2011 squads facing off.

    Washington Freedom v Flash
    Freedom v Breakers
    (Magic who? I’m sure it was just a bad dream)

    Of course I’m sure red tape and lawyers mean this could never happen but all I can do now is dream.

  • RICK JAMES

    So does the suspension of the 2012 season mean Borislow wont continue his b.s in 2013?