Regarding the dates for the WPS season & transfer windows, I have a few comments. I admit I don’t have all the dates memorized which leagues play when etc etc etc. I thought the WPS season at the same time as the MLS season was a bit weird but maybe there’s a good reason for it. MLS put their season where they did because of competition with other American sports (if I remember correctly). Unfortunately that didn’t correspond with the European leagues and god forbid MLS complies with International dates. But MLS does comply with transfer windows. But I’m not sure if all European women’s leagues comply with a transfer window (someone wanna correct me here?). If that is the case then absolutely WPS MUST comply too. But if there’s a grey area, then perhaps it’s time to smooth that out so we don’t have this problem again.

But the difference here (compared to MLS) is WPS is already coming from a position of strength. Looking at how other European women’s leagues have already responded to WPS, I think it’s pretty clear that because WPS exists (and good god, hasn’t even played a single game), the other leagues are reacting, negative or otherwise. So this new league may actually be able to influence policy which sounds kinda weird but appears to be the reality.

If I remember correctly, the official word from WPS is all international players they courted had to be either out of contract or something like within 6 months of being so and the negotiations had to be approved by the player’s clubs. I believe a consultant was hired to come up with a list of International players and I think WPS tried to prevent something like a scenario that our French players find themselves in now. So where the disconnect is — I’m not so sure.

Perhaps the WPS doesn’t have a fear of other leagues and don’t see the need to adhere to pleasantries. If the WPS is going to be the dominant league, maybe the foreign leagues can modify their schedules September-March to correspond. Then players can play year-round. Works for the Aussie league.

Why shouldn’t the WPS adhere to any pleasantries? Football is a global sport. It would be one thing if the WPS was entirely self contained, but it’s not. It’s trying hard to recruit international players and get worldwide recognition as the best women’s league, and furthermore, they are a part of FIFA. The WPS acting like they are the only boat in the sea is not reflecting the reality of that situation. If the WPS really cared about raising the standards of women’s football, they wouldn’t ride rod shod over the other countries who are trying to do the same thing. Instead, the WPS would have tried to work together with other nations, but they didn’t even try!

As for having all the other leagues in the world modify their schedules to fit the WPS? That’s silly. Every country in the world has to work around their respective schedules. So while no one is saying that the WPS should change their schedule to fit Europe’s, they should respect it, or at least their transfer seasons. In France for example, female teams can only bring in recruits the same times the men’s team can, which is in the summer and in the January transfer window. The WPS taking Abily and Bompaster right after the window closed means that not only are Lyon losing two players right before they are about to play in the UEFA Cup semifinals, but they couldn’t even replace them. If LA and Washington were so hot for Abily and Bompaster, the least they could have done was look at Lyon’s calendar.

Also, about L1 being able to support female players, I’m guessing you’ve never watched a lot of Ligue 1. Besides a few clubs, money is scarce – and that’s for the men’s teams. Women’s football is hard to sell in Europe, so right now, the only way female teams can have any sort of financial power is to be pushed by the men’s side, like Lyon, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Atletico. And now Bayern, Barca, and Real Madrid are following suit as well. The clubs will eventually push away the traditional powerhouses like Umea, who were shown not to have any power at all. And since these clubs have the wealth to at least match the WPS, once their leagues strengthen more, the WPS certainly won’t be the only boat in the sea.

Lyon are in a strong position because their money comes from the men’s division. They don’t really earn money themselves, and if left on their own, would be way off the radar. But the other clubs in France’s topflight female division are not so lucky, and besides a handful, cannot make the jump from amateur to professional at the moment. But until they do, France will not allow Lyon to be the sole professional team in the league. So that’s why the FFF has been trying to garner more interest in the sport. More interest means more money for the teams, which means a higher standard of women’s football.

But all that progress will disappear overnight. So really, just how is the WPS acting the way it does do anything except hurt the long term development of women’s football?

Leyla: It only means the drama is beginning, since Aulas threatened that if the Sol does sign Abily, he’ll bring that contract into legal dispute. And Abily may already be feeling the consequences as she’s been left out of France’s team for the oncoming internationals – the NT coach was not happy with her breaching her contract.

http://www.womensprosoccer.com/newsitem_ektid9118.aspx?team=la

Why shouldn’t a league use its leverage to get the best players? This is still a business. Clubs around the world do it (which doesn’t make it right, of course). Perhaps the WPS doesn’t have a fear of other leagues and don’t see the need to adhere to pleasantries. If the WPS is going to be the dominant league, maybe the foreign leagues can modify their schedules September-March to correspond. Then players can play year-round. Works for the Aussie league.

I still think some of the foreign leagues should step up their efforts in the women’s game, but in some places it still hasn’t received enough attention. There should be no reason why Ligue 1 can’t support professional women players. Those clubs have enough money and members to support a professional women’s team, and it surely would be done if the clubs really wanted to.

A new site devoted to Women’s Pro Soccer. News, schedules, player rosters and more.

I can’t remember but I think the European clubs respect a transfer window (although I think it’s not the same dates as the window for the men’s clubs). Sounds like this is something for WPS to use too.

It takes time to develop a professional league – and money. In France for example, right now only three or four clubs are in a position to become professional. At best, France can right now hope for a semi-professional league, as long as parity is maintained. Eventually the hope was to make the league professional and competitive all around. Lyon was helping bring that change about by increasing interest in the women’s game from both fans and sponsors. But taking their players in such an underhanded way weakens their position and will make future incursions even more common place, which means Lyon and the French league can never reach that position of strength you are advocating.

Honestly, the WPS can’t just barge into these situations. It’s making everyone outside the US hate them. It’s the middle of the season for European clubs, and Lyon for one have their eye on the UEFA Women’s Cup. The WPS is trying to rob them of their two best players in the middle of their season, with no financial compensation whatsoever. If the WPS thought that OL were going to just allow this happen, they messed with the wrong president.

The funny part is that Lyon’s president is a huge supporter of the women’s game and has sunk a lot of money into it’s development. He would have been happy to work with the WPS had they approached the situation in a professional manner. But for all the talk of the WPS wanting to truly professionalize women’s football, they are acting like amateurs in so many other ways. We all appreciate that the WPS is trying to put women’s football on at least a somewhat equal footing with the men’s, but the way they are going about it is destroying the progress being made elsewhere.

Even more hilarious is that a few months ago, Jeff Cooper on the Saturday Soccer Report talked about the MLS’s desire to have close relationships with European clubs. He listed Lyon as a particular example, saying that he wanted to communicate and build a partnership with them.

If this is what he meant, we want no part of it.