CSL Bulletin November 23, 2021

Dear Central Soccer League Member Clubs:

Please note applications for the Central Soccer League 2022 season (U13-U18 Boys and Girls) are available in E2E.  Clubs will login and accept/decline teams from our website.

If you have a U13 Boys or Girls team for the 2022 season, please email csl@cslsoccer.com and we will add the team for acceptance.  Teams will have to meet standards with only the top clubs earning spots in the CSL. The Standards Application will open in January 2022. 

Reminder that U14-U16 Boys and Girls teams for the 2022 season will need to maintain the minimum standard.

CSL will accept all U18 teams with the permission of their district.
CSL will accept any other U14-U17 teams with district approval that would have earned promotion or did not participate due to COVID restrictions.

All teams MUST be approved by OS Competitions Committee.

The deadline for Applications is December 15.  You must accept online and submit the League Fee of $700 (plus $91 HST) TOTAL $791.Full Refunds will be given to those teams that withdraw prior to February 15 along with all teams that do not meet the standards or are not approved by OS Competitions.

As you are aware, Ontario Soccer recently announced that they will not renew associate membership status for the Central Soccer League and that the League would not be able to run a regional league for our members for the upcoming season.

We strongly believe that this will not be the case.

With the clubs' vote of support, the Central Soccer League has retained one of the leading Canadian legal firms in the area of sport litigation who will be imminently filing an application for leave to appeal to Canada Soccer on Central Soccer League’s behalf. 

The principal basis of the appeal is that Ontario Soccer acted without jurisdiction and failed to follow its procedures in revoking the Central Soccer League’s membership. The law firm provided a preliminary opinion that “the Central Soccer League has a solid case to successfully appeal the Decision" (while noting that all litigation is inherently uncertain and difficult to predict).

Accordingly, the executive of the Central Soccer League will move ahead with planning for a successful season for 2022. We need our member clubs to support the Central Soccer League by submitting applications for their qualified teams.

Please disregard any suggestion from Ontario Soccer that the Central Soccer League is not a sanctioned league until the Central Soccer League’s appeal is finally decided, which could be as late as February 2022.The Central Soccer League will strive to keep you updated on the status of the appeal to the extent permissible under the applicable procedural rules.

Additionally, the issue of league sanctioning/approval is not a decision typically made in November or December, when the Central Soccer League has traditionally released its league applications. The final decision occurs in March when our "Terms of League Operation" are approved, including the "teams in the league".

Further, discipline processes for participating in unsanctioned competitions cannot be initiated until a team actually plays in an unsanctioned competition. 

In the unlikely event that the Central Soccer League’s appeal is unsuccessful, the Central Soccer League is fully prepared to provide full refunds to any and all clubs who have applied to play in the league for the 2022 season.

Any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly at 647-969-4773.

Rob Gillies on behalf of the CSL Executive.

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