MISLPA’s Kerr Expects New Agreement : League That Would Not Fold Manages to Live Another Day

SAN DIEGO — John Kerr, director of the Major Indoor Soccer League Players Assn., said Thursday he believes his union and the MISL owners will reach an accord on a new collective bargaining agreement today.

Kerr made his comment just a day after MISL Commissioner Bill Kentling said he thought the 10-year-old league might fold by the weekend.

“Wednesday night, I thought the league was going to fold, too,” Cleveland Force owner Bart Wolstein said. “The players association told us no on our proposal, so I didn’t see any way this could continue. Now it looks like they’re going to talk with us.”

The owners originally asked for a reduction in the current salary cap from $900,000 per team to $675,000.

But according to Joe Papleo, the Dallas Sidekicks’ player representative, six of the eight owners said during a conference call Thursday that they were willing to still operate with a $900,000 cap.

“That’s why I think it will work out,” Kerr said. “The owners know we can’t go any lower than $900,000 as a ceiling on a salary cap. I know there are a couple of teams who can’t make that, so we’ll have to work with them. But I’m confident we can do that.”

Kerr wouldn’t say which teams needed to be worked with.

Ron Fowler, who is attempting to buy the Sockers and who said Wednesday that he was displeased with the owners’ recent demands, was out of town on other business Thursday. Fowler has said he would go ahead with his bid to purchase the Sockers out of bankruptcy with a $900,000 cap as long as there were at least eight teams in the league.

Sidekick owner Stan Finney was quoted in a Dallas newspaper Thursday as saying he was embarrassed that the owners had asked for a new collective bargaining agreement.

After a 90-minute conference call Thursday, the owners said they would wait until today to hear back from Kerr.

Kerr said the players association would be willing to work out discrepancies between the two sides. Kentling was in Wichita, Kan., on personal business and could not be reached for comment.

“Things are a little different now,” Kansas City owner Kerry Reardon said. “At first, there didn’t seem like there would be any discussions. It would have just been over. But now we’re going to wait to hear what they say (today). We’re back to waiting again.”

Said Kerr: “Everybody has been issuing ultimatums lately. It’s ridiculous. There are some things the players can give in to and some they can’t. We have to work it out, and I think we will. How many times have people said the league was going to fold? You know it’s not true.”

Kerr said he will talk with player representatives from each team today at 11 a.m. (PDT) before talking with Scott Wolstein, the vice president of the Cleveland Force, who has been appointed by the league to head bargaining agreement discussions. The owners will talk again in a conference call at noon.