According to multiple reports, NWSL players will not be reporting to their clubs when the first day of the 2022 preseason kicks off on February 1st. The Athletic’s Meg Linehan was the first to break the story.
The NWSL players association and owners have been at loggerheads for over a year now regarding a new CBA with no results to show for it. The matter is further complicated by what can only be described as a tumultuous season in 2021 where numerous coaches, officials, and executives were accused of a variety of off field misconduct. The allegations led to several dismissals over the past year with numerous investigations still ongoing.
Representatives for the players and the league have met more than 35 times since negotiations began, but still have multiple issues which the sides need to resolve before a new CBA can be ratified.
In a recent interview USWNT star Megan Rapinoe called out the NWSL for a lack of professionalism stating “The training facilities have to get better. I think for the most part now, I say this as my team who was playing on a baseball field last year, which I don’t think anyone would be surprised is totally unacceptable to everyone, everyone knows that, totally unacceptable.So I think the overall standards of the league and of the environments and training environments and the day to day has to get better.”
Rapinoe, along with numerous other current and former national team members have been outspoken about the need for increased salaries, better equipment, and more support for players moving forward. This is in line with one of the main stumbling blocks the league and the players association have yet to agree upon, free agency.
Details around free agency, as well as when rules regarding roster changes will take effect remain major issues that have yet to be resolved. With the deadline to get a new CBA in place now less than two weeks away, it seems highly unlikely that the 2022 pre-season will begin on time.