Criticisms
Major League Soccer has faced criticism from FIFA and some domestic soccer fans for neither abiding by the FIFA calendar, nor changing the league schedule to one that begins in August and ends in May. MLS' spring-to-fall format causes scheduling conflicts with the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the FIFA World Cup, and other FIFA-sanctioned international competitions held in June and July. Such conflicts cause many of the league's top players to abandon their MLS teams during those two months so they can compete in these tournaments, and thus makes it harder for the league to recruit more of the world's best players. Commissioner Don Garber previously stated the league was looking into changing to a fall-to-spring format, but has since said no such change will take place "any time soon." Said Garber: "To think about playing in Toronto in January or December, it's hard to imagine we are going to be able to do that." If the league does change their schedule, Garber admitted that a winter break would be needed to avoid playing games in the snow, especially with several teams in colder climates.
Other criticisms include the MLS playoff format. Prior to the 2012 MLS Season, the postseason was structured in such a way that a team participating in the playoffs could play in the opposite conference than which they are a member. Most notably Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids, who played the regular season in the Western Conference, won the MLS Cup as the Eastern Conference champions in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Further criticism of the playoff system goes beyond this structural point and is made by those arguing playoffs in general greatly reduce the importance of the regular season; especially since a majority of teams qualify for the postseason. Garber has acknowledged this tension but argues the league cannot "cater to the loudest voices who have this view that our sole purpose is to have a valuable regular season. Our purpose is to have a valuable competition, and that includes having playoffs that are more meaningful. Because we don't have a single table."
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