Nashville out of MLS Is Back Tournament
Nashville SC majority owner John Ingram and chief executive Ian Ayre told players on a phone call Thursday morning they had been withdrawn from the MLS Is Back Tournament. The players' morale subsequently sunk to the floor.
The call came the morning after coach Gary Smith asked players in a private meeting whether they wanted to play in the tournament despite nine teammates testing positive for the coronavirus since July 3. The majority answered yes, Ayre said. But on Thursday, Nashville became the second team sent home from the tournament after confirmed coronavirus cases in the squad. FC Dallas was withdrawn Monday.
"The players were 100% committed right to the end and devastated to hear the bad news," Ayre said on a Zoom call with reporters Thursday. "It'll be a low point for a few days, I'm sure. Our job is to deal with it, dust ourselves off and move on. For Nashville Soccer Club, it's not our first rodeo – in terms of difficult days – but it's certainly one of our toughest ones."
Even before the season started, the club's expansion into Nashville was threatened after a public battle with Mayor John Cooper over a future soccer stadium. Terms were agreed upon Feb. 13, but another setback loomed. On March 3, tornadoes destroyed the homes of forwards Daniel Rios and David Accam in Germantown and also affected assistant general manager Ally Mackay.
Confirmed coronavirus cases grew among Nashville SC'S ranks since the team's last training session June 30. A player tested positive that day, delaying travel to the tournament bubble in Orlando until July 3. Upon arrival, two of Nashville's nine positive players were confirmed. By Wednesday, seven more were confirmed.
"We've seen (the virus) growing and there was always the hope that, you know, we could contain it quickly and that there wasn't too many who were incubating and would spread it," Ayre said. "But I guess you could describe that it just got slightly worse day by day."
Five players who had their positive tests confirmed Tuesday were said to be asymptomatic. Ayre said Thursday "a couple" of the other players whose tests were confirmed Wednesday are showing minor symptoms but "doing OK."
Nashville fullback Brayan Beckeles self-identified Monday as one of the players who tested positive for the coronavirus.
The club has cited the HIPAA Privacy Rule, a federal law that provides protection of individual health and personal information, for not identifying other players who have tested positive.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber commented on Nashville's withdrawal in a league statement Thursday. “For every decision we make in our return to play, the wellbeing of our players, staff, officials and all participants is our top priority,” he said.
As of Thursday, Nashville, Dallas and Columbus Crew SC are the only clubs confirmed to have recorded positive coronavirus cases. Although two of Nashville's cases were confirmed on arrival, Ayre scoffed at the notion that Nashville didn't adhere to MLS health protocols prior to entering the Orlando bubble.
"None of this stuff is with foundation at all," he said. "There's no substance, and it's a poor tactic, really. We were absolutely stringent in putting those (health) processes and protocols together as directed by the league and by all healthcare partners."
Nashville SC'S health advisers at Vanderbilt Health as well as MLS and MLS Players' Association health advisers joined on a call Thursday to discuss a plan for the club's return home. Although that plan is not solidified, Ayre confirmed that the health protocol for the return will be the same for both players affected by the coronavirus and those who aren't.
Nashville has not played a match since March 8 against the Portland Timbers. Although Garber told reporters in June he was "very optimistic" the league's regular season would resume in the fall, no plans have been confirmed. Ayre said return to training plans are also unconfirmed, but "a phased reintroduction" is being considered.
"We have to make everybody believe we have a chance and to go and show people what we've got," Ayre said. "This season will always be drowned in some of the difficulties that we all know. And maybe there's more down the road – who knows? – but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't be ready and prepared and to give our all."