NISA given provisional 3rd division sanctioning by USSF

Published Feb. 17, 2019 11:44 a.m. ET

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Soccer Federation has given provisional third division sanctioning to the proposed National Independent Soccer Association.

The NISA said last September it will start play in August 2019, and it has announced teams in Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; an unspecified site in Connecticut; and Philadelphia. It would join three other sanctioned men's leagues: first tier Major League Soccer, the second tier United Soccer League Championship and the third tier USL League 1.

The USSF also said the sanctioning of the first-tier National Women's Soccer League was renewed during the USSF board meeting Friday.

Cindy Parlow Cone was elected USSF vice president at the national council meeting. The 40-year-old, a World Cup and Olympic champion and member of the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame, was the only candidate for the one-year term for the position, which was vacated when Carlos Cordeiro was elected president last year.

Patti Hart, CEO of International Game Technology Inc., was confirmed as an independent director to replace Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman, whose term expired.

The USSF approved the Asociacion Nacional Futbol en EU, U.S. Youth Futsal and United States Association of Blind Athletes as members, raising the USSF total to 110.