NEW YORK - Major League Soccer Deputy Commission Ivan Gazidis today announced competition changes for the 2006 MLS regular season, as approved by the MLS Competition Committee.
Among the changes is the formation of a newly created Technical Committee, whose role is to examine issues in-depth from a technical perspective and to provide input to the Competition Committee. The Technical Committee, which consists of MLS coaches, MLS General Managers, former MLS players and League Office technical staff, recently conducted its first meeting. Subsequently, the Competition Committee made the following changes for the 2006 MLS season:
2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup Participants: The team that has the most overall points at the end of the regular season will automatically qualify as one of two United States entries for the 2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The second entry will be the winner of MLS Cup 2006, which will be played at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas on November 12, 2006 (live on ABC Sports).
In the event that the overall points' leader also wins MLS Cup 2006, the second U.S. entry will be awarded to the team with the second most points at the end of the regular season. Standard MLS tie-breakers will be used to determine the overall points' leader and runner-up.
Previously, the MLS Cup winner and MLS Cup runner-up represented the United States in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. MLS Cup 2005 finalists Los Angeles Galaxy and New England Revolution will enter the 2006 two-leg quarterfinal stage against Costa Rican clubs: New England faces LD Alajuelense in Bermuda on February 22; and reigning MLS Cup champion Galaxy take on Deportivo Saprissa at the Home Depot Center on February 23. The return matches are scheduled for March 8.
The Champions' Cup is the longest running international club competition in the region which has crowned the champion club of the Confederation since its inception in 1962. The winner of the Champions Cup advances to play in the FIFA Club World Championships. The 2006 CONCACAF Champions' Cup runner-up will be one of the three CONCACAF invitees to participate in the 2006 Copa Nissan Sudamericana.
Balanced Gameday Rosters: Both the home team and the visiting team can have up to seven players available for selection as substitutes on game days, bringing the game day roster to 18 players for each team. As was previously the case, game day rosters must be submitted to the referees 60 minutes prior to the start of the game and each team can use a maximum of three substitutes per game.
Previously, home teams were permitted to dress 20 total players (nine available substitutes) while the visiting team could dress 16 total players (five available substitutes).
Caution Points Eliminated: Players will be suspended for one game following the accumulation of five yellow cards, regardless of the nature of the infraction. A player will subsequently be suspended for one additional game after accumulating a total of eight cautions and a third suspension will be applied after three additional yellow cards (11 total cautions).
Previously, caution points were attributed to various types of yellow card infractions and players were suspended as follows: for earning more than 10 caution points in three consecutive games; earning 21 total caution points; and for earning additional 11 points after having reached 21 total caution points. As part of the change the Good Behavior Incentive will also be eliminated. The Good Behavior Incentive allowed players - who were under warning for point accumulation - to play three consecutive games without yellow cards in order to have their total caution points reduced by five points.
Composition of the MLS Competition and Technical Committees:
The MLS Competition Committee consists of representatives from each investor / ownership group: Clark Hunt (Hunt Sports - Kansas City, Columbus, FC Dallas); Sunil Gulati (Kraft Soccer); Dean Howes (Sports Capital Partners); Javier Leon (Chivas USA); Kevin Payne (AEG); and Jeff Plush (Kroenke Sports Enterprises).
Among the topics that the MLS Technical Committee will examine is the MLS competition format for the 2007 season and beyond and the creation of youth development programs for MLS.
The 16-member MLS Technical Committee consists of: Bruce Arena (Manager - U.S. Men's National Team); Mike Burns (Director of Soccer - Kraft Soccer); Fernando Clavijo (Head Coach - Colorado Rapids); Todd Durbin (MLS Sr. VP-Player Personnel); John Ellinger (Head Coach - Real Salt Lake); Robin Fraser (former MLS player); Ivan Gazidis (MLS Deputy Commissioner); Doug Hamilton (Chief Operating Officer - Doug Hamilton); Clark Hunt (Investor / Operator - Hunt Sports); Curt Johnson (General Manager - Kansas City Wizards); Alexi Lalas (former MLS player; President / General Manager - MetroStars); Javier Leon (CEO - Club Deportivo Chivas USA); Joe Machnik (MLS - Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner for On-Field Competition); Alfonso Mondelo (MLS - Director, Player Programs); Kevin Payne (President / Chief Executive Officer - D.C. United); Sigi Schmid (Head Coach - Columbus Crew).
