The American Professional Soccer League, in an attempt to expand its scope, Saturday offered teams from the defunct Major Soccer League the chance to play outdoor soccer in the APSL.
The opportunity comes in the wake of Friday's announcement that the MSL had decided to cease operations. The indoor soccer league was left with just five teams, located in Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, San Diego and Wichita, Kan."We offer to the MSL clubs the opportunity to explore the possibility of joining the APSL," APSL Commissioner Bill Sage said. "These teams represent first-rate U.S. markets, and they have built strong bonds in their respective communities."
With the dissolution of the MSL, the APSL becomes the only professional soccer league in the country sanctioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation. The National Professional Soccer League, another indoor league based mostly in the Midwest, is not sanctioned by the national soccer governing body.
If any of the five former MSL clubs accepts the offer to join the APSL, it will have to switch to the outdoor game played worldwide. The APSL, which is fielding five teams in 1992, hopes to have a nationwide league established in the wake of the 1994 World Cup.