Ryan Johnston

Follow TFC and the Champions League with Twitter. I will update from training, on match day and whenever news breaks.

Toronto FC supporters will get at least one extra home game if the sanctioning of the new NASL can not be completed in time.

The dispute that led Vancouver and Montreal to look elsewhere for a new home may benefit Toronto FC.

Quick legend to begin: North American Soccer League (NASL), Team Owners Association (TOA), United Soccer League (USL), Nutrilite Canadian Championship (NCC), CONCACAF Champions League (CCL), Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), United States Soccer Federation (USSF).

The challenge in the current alphabet soup state of the newly re-formed NASL, the TOA and its dispute with the USL is to prioritize what Canadian soccer supporters stand to lose should the lofty endeavor of inaugurating a new league simply run out of time.

At the top of the potential casualties list is the NCC. (At the bottom might be faith.)

Peter Montopoli, CSA general secretary and de facto spokesperson, was cornered by myself and 24th Minute man Duane Rollins on Monday while the rest of the soccer intelligentsia welcomed Stephen Hart to the world of full-time employment. Montopoli began by reiterating the existing blogosphere belief that the CSA would take its cues from the USSF in regards to sanctioning teams set to participate in the new league.

"After the USSF has conducted their due diligence, we will wait and see what they are moving forward with," Montopoli said. "What we need to do is to see that the USSF is actually sanctioning that league (NASL). Once that happens we invite both teams -- or any of the teams -- to apply for sanctioning in that league."

The CSA taking the proactive route and sanctioning its teams ahead of the USSF would be noble, but generally unwise. However, time is not on the side of either party. If feet are dragged on the sanctioning decision by the USSF and the window to properly introduce a new league closes, it may lead to Toronto FC earning a direct bye into the CCL via a neutered version of the NCC.

"I think there are many scenarios," Montopoli said when asked if the 2010 NCC will be played only for Canadian bragging rights. "But they are two separate things: the NCC is separate and owned by the CSA and the CCL is owned by CONCACAF, and it dictates entry."

In soccer speak the wildly popular and engaging NCC will always exist as long as the CSA continues to set a schedule. But if two of the three participants (Montreal & Vancouver) are not sanctioned by 2010 then raising the Voyageurs Cup will be all that is at stake. In the end, win or lose, Toronto will represent Canada in the two-game qualification series, which it lost to Puerto Rico last summer.

"The idea of the NCC is decided upon by the CSA in terms of participation. Obviously we would like to see the teams playing in the NCC actually be playing in a league and we feel confident that both the Impact and Whitecaps will be playing in a league. But as you know the winner advances to the CONCACAF Champions League and we need to ensure that whatever league they are playing in is also endorsed by CONCACAF and would allow entry into the competition."

FINALLY, SOMEONE SAYS IT

The best thing to come out of the press gathering in downtown Toronto on Monday was not the free cookies, but rather the honesty of the new Canadian men's national team coach. When asked point blank if Canada needed a national league to develop talent and erase the last 20-odd years of non-qualification futility, Hart did not look down at his prepared speech for an answer.

"Yes," Hart said, empathically. "I know people have said 'No,' but we are probably the only country in the world trying to compete on the world stage without a national league. The reality is that although you might produce a number of players who might get the opportunity to cut their teeth in leagues abroad, a huge number of players are lost because they have nowhere to play. So what happens is that your player pool or player base becomes very small. I think it is very important that we start taking care of our domestic game and have some sort of league in Canada. I don't really care (what it is), I just want to be able to see the players play and have somewhere for them to learn the game."

NOTES: The hiring of Hart means the men's national team will need to fill Hart's previous role as technical director. Montopoli confirmed there was room in the 2010 budget for a new hire ... The new FIFA rules on eligibility open the door for Dutch citizen Jonathan De Guzman to reconsider his decision to not play for his birth country, Canada. Hart, however, is not holding his breath on a return ... Hart was quick to address recent criticisms over the decisions of Asmir Begovic and Jacob Lensky to follow De Guzman's example and play for an adopted country, saying: "The players need to understand that they are the ones responsible for putting Canada on the map. That will be my role and responsibility."