[shermanator]

CPL president Paul Beirne was in Edmonton meeting with

He tells the audience that he does not want the Canadian Premier League to be compared to MLS. He says the league is leaning towards determining a champion via the single table and not having playoffs. He says, “where possible,” the Canadian league will respect the FIFA dates, something MLS has long been criticized for not doing. When an audience member asks him if an MLS reserve team would ever be admitted into the CanPL, he smiles and says “yes, when we have a second division.” But never the first.

Beirne says, instead of MLS, the closest comparison for CanPL will come to pro leagues in South Korea and Japan. Why? Because they are relatively new, and are examples of first divisions that were basically “plopped on” to those countries pyramids in order to kickstart development. Those leagues lean heavily towards playing domestic players.

...

When asked if he could ever see the three Canadian MLS teams defecting for the Canadian League, he answers, “it’s a possibility, but we have to earn it.” Basically, the CanPL will have to prove it’s a good enough league that the three Canadian MLS teams will one day want to leave that league on their own terms. He doesn’t want teams forced to leave MLS or legislated to act a certain way.