MISL Players Get 3-Year Contract

The Major Indoor Soccer League owners ratified a three-year collective bargaining agreement Friday, thus averting a proposed strike by the players that would have begun at 12:01 a.m. today. Francis Dale, MISL commissioner, said the players will vote soon on the agreement.

“I see this agreement as a significant step toward stability and opportunity for our league,” Dale said.

Under the new agreement, the salary cap will be raised from $1.25 million to $1.275 million for each of the three years of the contract.

The contract also will restrict the number of foreign players entering the league to 18 the first year, 15 the second and 12 the third. Last season, the 13 MISL teams could bring in six foreign players apiece.

The agreement also will limit the number of Canadian players who can join the league each year to six. There were previously no restrictions on Canadian players.

Members of the Sockers, Minnesota Strikers and Chicago Sting now will be under the MISL collective bargaining agreement. Players on those teams, which moved from the defunct North American Soccer League to the MISL before the 1984-85 season, had been governed by the NASL agreement. The players have been paying MISL union dues, but didn’t have the right to vote on MISL issues.

Under the agreement, an annual waiver draft, similar to the one held by the National Hockey League, will be instituted. Players also will receive increased health and welfare benefits. They will be given $30,000 for a career-ending injury, and a player cut after the 12th game will be paid for the entire season.