NEW YORK CITY – Major League Soccer has announced that it is “extremely unlikely” to resume play in Mid-May like originally planned in its last update around the COVID-19 shutdown.
Originally Major League Soccer had extended its stoppage for eight weeks, this would have set up the resumption of play on May 10th with a training morotorium of April 24th. That now means that play shouldn’t be expected before June.
In the statement MLS says that they will be looking at possibilities for getting as many games as possible in to complete the full 2020 season.
“Our goal remains to play as many games as possible, and while we currently have enough dates to play the entire season, we recognize at this time that it may become difficult to do so. We continue to learn more every day from the medical experts, and we expect to have additional details in the coming weeks regarding when we can return to play.”
As the delay continues to mount, there will be several options on the table for MLS, including condensing the season in fewer cities, cutting matches, pushing back MLS Cup final date and moving to a European schedule.
That last option is definitely one that some fans have been pushing for over many years and MLS would not be unique in doing so. The former Australian National Soccer League switched from a non-European schedule to a European schedule in 1989, playing a 1989 and 1989-90 season.
READ MORE: Coronavirus Forces MLS and USL to Extend Season Suspensions
That didn’t happen in Australia where the European schedule change was permanent. It would mean that if that option was chosen by MLS it would mean either a very short off-season or a very long off-season to get back in to sync, assuming that a full season was played in 2020-21.
There are lots of decisions to be made for MLS before returning to the pitch, but the most immediate concern is safety and thus there will be no play for the foreseeable future.
Florida Soccer Report 
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