The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Larentowicz critical of what MLS’ plan lacks
Player and MLSPA rep gets fired up about commissioner’s edicts.
Atlanta United’s Jeff Larentowicz said he doesn’t hold grudges, but he also didn’t hold back in criticizing MLS and Commissioner Don Garber over and over Thursday during a Zoom call to discuss the collective bargaining agreement negotiations between the league and the MLSPA, of which Larentowicz sits on the board.
■ He described Garber’s threat to lock out the players as “disgusting” and “bullying.”
■ He said the league has yet to answer several questions about its proposed Orlando tournament, and his being asked to take a leap of faith makes him question things.
■ He described the league’s intention regarding the force majeure clause, arguably the key sticking point in the negotiations, as characteristically “over the top and somewhat nonsensical.”
■ Lastly, he said because of the responsibility he felt to the players there was no way he was
going to walk away, and that the league gave him plenty of incentive to keep fighting.
It was a hard-nosed performance, similar to what he has done in his 420 regular-season performances.
Delving into the topics more deeply, Larentowicz said he hopes the league will use the next several weeks to close the holes he sees in the Orlando plan. Teams are supposed to start arriving June 24, with games starting around July 9. Larentowicz said he thinks Atlanta United wouldn’t arrive in Florida until early July, which would be allowed because the team is on track to be one of the first to start large-group training, whenever MLS allows it. The team also was among the first to do individual voluntary training and small-group training.
Garber said there will be testing of players done again and again in Orlando. Larentowicz said the epidemiologist used by MLSPA also seemed confident there will be enough testing of players. Still, Larentowicz has questions.
“There are so many questions because the list of things: the virus, the testing, return to play, what’s life in the hotel going to be like, when are we going to leave, how long are we going to be there, how many games are we going to play, when are we going to train, how are we going to train, how are we going to eat, how are we going to be tested, how are we going to be quarantined, how do you deal with players that are quarantined, how do you deal with a test that’s positive after a game, every single level of things has questions that lead to another question,” he said. “I mean, you’re staying in a hotel, you’re social distancing, everyone’s wearing masks, we are all staying on different floors, but how do you use the elevator? Do you fit 10, 12 guys in an elevator? We’ve all been to games. We’ve asked so many questions. They have slowly trickled back toward us. I can’t say the tests have only been about return to play. Everyone has different needs and has different concerns in this.
“That’s why I said this bargaining period was one of the most difficult, because you have 730 players at different stages of their career with different concerns. How do you marry all of those to create one agreement that draws the straightest line from yours to the most points?”
La rent owicz said some questions have been answered, but now it’s the job of the league to protect players.
“I can tell you that they are taking 2,000 peoples’ lives into their hands,” he said. “They better have it sorted. It’s on them.”
He said players asked on every call what would happen if one of them didn’t feel comfortable competing in Orlando. MLS on Wednesday said every player must travel with their team unless there are special circumstances. Larentowicz said they were told that those who don’t attend could be treated as holdouts and fined. Atlanta United President Darren Eales said he is waiting to receive from the league details about the tournament, but that player safety is paramount. He said he and Vice President Carlos Bocanegra will travel with the players.
Teammate Alec Kann said players are taking a risk going to Orlando and was glad the MLSPA was able to negotiate down the length of the tournament.
Larentowicz said Garber noted there would be only nine more games after the tournament. “Not sure what he meant by that,” Larentowicz said. The league has been asked to clarify.
Larentowicz seemed most aggrieved by Garber’s strategy to possibly lock out players if they didn’t reach an agreement by Tuesday. That deadline was then pushed to Wednesday, the date players voted on the modified CBA.
“To make that threat, on the heels of them asking for collaboration in an open discussion to find a way to get through a difficult time, really doesn’t sit well with me at all,” he said. “It will take me a bit of time to get past that myself.”
Kann agreed, saying the league lost credibility with players after threatening to lock them out in the middle of a pandemic and economic
‘I can tell you that they are taking 2,000 peoples’ lives into their hands. They better have it sorted.’ Jeff Larentowicz
MLSPA board member, on the MLS plan to restart play
and social upheavals. “It’s going to take a long time for the league to earn the trust of the players again,” he said.
Negotiating the force majeure clause, insisted on by the owners amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was the lever for the threat of a lockout. Larentowicz said Sunday night he told his wife that he felt the players were going to be locked out. The two sides eventually settled on something similar to what the players wanted.
“Not only did the threat not make sense, but if you want to make that threat on this, have at it,” he said. “When you are enacting a force majeure, the league is in trouble, too. The players are in trouble. That’s an acknowledgement that something is going on. We aren’t fighting over free agency. What we were asking for is more or less industry standard. They were asking for something, which is not out of character for them, over the top and somewhat nonsensical.”