Sporting KC’s Vermes supports MLS ‘Orlando Plan’ for restarting league season in July

As general consensus among Major League Soccer and its teams continues to lean toward returning to league play sooner than later, one means of doing so seems to be rising above the rest:

The Orlando Plan.

With no indication as to when teams will be able to resume playing games in their home stadiums because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, several strategies have been floated about resuming the stalled season in some fashion.

The first was the notion that multiple central hubs could allow teams to compete regionally with relatively minimized travel, with Sporting Kansas City president Jake Reid suggesting Kansas City as one potential location. But, as first reported by The Washington Post and elaborated on by The Athletic, MLS has now proposed a plan in which all 26 teams would play in Orlando over the summer.

The Orlando Plan calls for a round-robin format tournament that would see teams based at the ESPN World Wide of Sports complex in central Florida. Teams would be based at the 220-acre facility for eight weeks starting in early July, and as many as 10 if they make it to the knockout stages of the tournament.

Although nothing is finalized, Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes supported the idea Wednesday afternoon.

“I think at the end of the day we truly have to get back on the field as soon as we possibly can, for so many reasons,” Vermes said. “Obviously I think we have to do it in a safe way — I think the idea of going to a single location, if that’s what it is, I personally am all for it.”

Vermes, who’s been at the forefront of the league’s push to develop small-group training and eventual full-team training protocols, believes that keeping all of the players in a central hub is the safest route for the league. He also said it would enable other cities to return to some semblance of normalcy before hosting games as testing becomes more widely available.

But the idea of an 8-10 week tournament in Florida’s heartland isn’t one widely accepted across the league, especially among the players.

Most seem eager to return to competition as soon as possible, but the idea of leaving behind families for up to two months holds less appeal.

The Philadelphia Union’s Alejandro Bedoya and Real Salt Lake’s Nedum Onuoha spoke out against the idea on Taylor Twellmen’s “Banter with Taylor Twellmen” show Wednesday — a show on which Vermes also appeared to voice support for it.

Sporting KC captain Matt Besler talked about the proposal on Sports Radio 810 last week.

“If going down to Orlando in a tournament situation is the best option, then I think most players would be for it,” Besler said. “What we’re trying to figure out right now is how can we make that environment as player-friendly as possible.”

Vermes’ enthusiasm aside, he’s also sympathetic to those who aren’t as keen about living in Florida for two months.

“We’re all thinking about it and trying to imagine in our minds how we get ready for it in all ways,” Vermes said. “Logistically I’m sure there are guys on teams that have wives that are pregnant, there are foreign players that are here with their families but they don’t have access to their families back home, so there’s a lot of different things that we have to think about.”

Time away from families isn’t the only obstacle to the Orlando plan. MLS would need to figure out a way to house 26 teams and their respective support staffers — well over 1,000 people — inside a 220-acre bubble for more than 60 days while providing enough testing kits, food and safe transport for everyone involved.

The league has yet to provide any sort of plan for practice schedules, or even how many times a week teams would get to practice. But if MLS officials to decide to plow ahead with the Orlando plan, MLS could be the first major pro sports league to return to action.

If all the details can be worked out, the season in Orlando would begin July 1.

“I think it would be great to first, I think at the same time I don’t think that we should be first just to be first then make a bunch of mistakes,” Vermes said. “I maintain that we have to be very thorough about what it is that we’re going to do.”

“Would I love to be first, absolutely I would love that, it’s probably a little bit of the competitor in me as well that would like it that way, but it’s not for the sake of having a bad plan.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Sporting KC’s Vermes supports MLS ‘Orlando Plan’ for restarting league season in July."