SEATTLE (AP) — Kasey Keller wants to make sure fans who hear about a possible strike in Major League Soccer understand the current standoff is about player rights and not salaries.
The Seattle Sounders goalkeeper, a leader of the MLS Players Union, says he wasn’t surprised when the group said Thursday it voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if a new collective bargaining agreement isn’t reached by March 25, when the Sounders host expansion Philadelphia in the league opener.
Keller says all the players are asking for are rights players have in other leagues around the world. He understands that when the previous five-year deal was agreed to, players needed to make concessions to keep the league going.
Now that the league has a solid base expanding into a new market, he says it’s time for the players to get some of those concessions back.
