Pandemic puts additional strain on international MLS players

SEATTLE » Kelvin Leerdam has been fortunate compared to many of the other foreign players in Major League Soccer, and it was completely by accident.

Born in Suriname but raised in the Netherlands, Leerdam still makes his full-time home in Europe when he’s not playing for the Seattle Sounders. When the school schedule in the Netherlands lined up for his wife and two young children to join him in Washington state for the start of the MLS season last month, Leerdam jumped at the opportunity to bring his family here.

They made it before the COVID-19 pandemic overtook much of the world, making travel a major challenge. “They were supposed to come here and have a good time,” Leerdam said. “Then everything changed.”

No other top-flight league in the world has the same geographic diversity as MLS, which had 74 nationalities represented at the start of the 2020 season, according to data from Sports Reference. The Premier League had 63 nationalities among its players for the 2019-20 season. Same for the Bundesliga. Serie A in Italy had 65. La Liga in Spain had 52.

The diversity has been good for MLS, but now it has also been a source of emotional and mental strain during the pandemic, which shut the season down in early March after only two weeks. Foreign players and coaches were subsequently stuck in North America, and while in many cases they have their spouses and children with them, they are often separated from other family and loved ones.

“We’re constantly communicating with them (players). And if there’s something they might need, we will work very hard to provide it,” said Portland Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese, who has extended family in Italy. “These are times that are very difficult. Our generation has not gone through this type of situation, so every day we have a new challenge. The good thing is that everyone is in constant communication to make sure that we always know if someone is of need of something.”

MLS has extended its training moratoriums on several occasions, the latest until May 15. The earliest the league will return to action is June 8.