Rothenberg Is Given OK to Start Outdoor Pro Soccer League in ’95

The U.S. Soccer Federation on Sunday gave preliminary approval to a group headed by USSF President Alan Rothenberg to organize a professional outdoor soccer league in 1995.

Rothenberg’s group, called Major League Professional Soccer, Inc., was one of three bidders that applied to the USSF for its sanction as a First Division league. The USSF will present the MLPS business plan to FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, at the World Cup Draw in Las Vegas in two weeks.

As a condition of awarding next summer’s World Cup to the United States, FIFA has required a professional league be organized. The vote by the USSF national board of directors came Sunday morning in Chicago and eliminated a bid by the APSL, headed by L.A. Salsa president William De La Pena, and one by Chicago businessman Jim Paglia.

No details of the MLPS plan were released and USSF executive director Hank Steinbrecher could not be reached for comment.