On occasion, rules and their interpretation overtake on-field action and that was the case when Chicago House AC was disqualified for fielding an ineligible player in their 4-1 win over RKC Third Coast.
Chicago House is a former professional side who played the 2021 season in the National Independent Soccer Association before leaving that league. Upon leaving NISA, House joined the USASA sanctioned Midwest Premier League, thus making them eligible for the Amateur Cup.
USASA Executive Director Bruce Bode told Northland Soccer Journal,
A decision was made to disqualify Chicago House for using an ineligible player in their last game against RKC Third Coast. Chicago House has appealed that decision. The USASA Appeals Committee will rule on the appeal as soon as practicable. We will work to disrupt the game schedule as little as possible.
The rule in question, 202.2 reads "Players competing in the Amateur Cups must have amateur status as defined by the Federation."
FIFA rules, which is the rulebook that US Soccer and thus USASA follow, are explicit:
1.
Players participating in organised football are either amateurs or professionals.
2.
A professional is a player who has a written contract with a club and is paid more for his footballing activity than the expenses he effectively incurs. All other players are considered to be amateurs.
The player in question, Nico Williams, is currently scoring goals for Baltimore Blast in the Major Arena Soccer League, a professional indoor competition. Williams also scored for House in their win over RKC. MASL players earn roughly the same salary as in the outdoor USL League One, but the indoor league is largely independent of the FIFA/US Soccer/USASA system, which is seemingly where House and the USASA diverge.
MASL has had players called up to the FIFA sanctioned and USSF run National Futsal team, which would require players to register with FIFA. That would give a possible link between FIFA, the MASL, and Nico Williams.
The club's Managing Partner, President and CEO, Peter Wilt, responded:
We have followed all the US Soccer Federation policies assuring we have used no ineligible players. We are confident that the appeal process will validate this.
According to US Soccer, a player is only classified as a professional when a professional registration is submitted to and approved by U.S. Soccer. MASL does not submit professional registrations to USSF, so they do not consider the player a professional in their records.
Chicago House is no stranger to the USASA National Amateur Cup or it's rules, having competed in the competition each of the last three seasons. The last two seasons House was eliminated in the Region II Quarterfinals.
The speed of the appeals process matters in a Cup with such a compressed timeline. The competition window for this round is supposed to close on Sunday, with the Quarterfinals being played between Monday and May 3rd.
In the intervening time, the Minnesota Blizzard awaits either a trip to Chicagoland or a road trip to Racine, WI, within the next two weeks.
