Silverbacks officially join breakaway league

The Atlanta Silverbacks are one of six First Division organizations in the United Soccer Leagues that announced on Tuesday they have formed a separate league and filed for formal recognition from the United States Soccer Federation and the Canadian Soccer Association.

Boris Jerkunica, the Silverbacks chairman, sent me this release and commented succinctly:

“Here is the result of three years of work.”

He told me he “can’t comment on things right now beyond what is in the press release.” I asked him if the Silverbacks — who didn’t compete in 2009 in part because of disagreements with USL management — will field a team for the 2010 season. Jerkunica would say only that “we are putting plans together as we speak.”

The other organizations involved in the Team Owners Association (TOA) consortium include the Carolina RailHawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, St. Louis Soccer United and the Vancouver Whitecaps, who are bound for Major League Soccer in 2011 but will field a second-division squad in the yet-unnamed new league.

Late Tuesday afternoon the USL — whose purchase by the Atlanta-based NuRock Soccer Holdings Inc. this summer led to the breakaway threat — issued a statement saying it opposes the TOA’s application:

“. . . on the grounds that that there is misrepresentation, interference with USL business operations and substantial debt amongst the membership of the parties applying for certification.”

The USL did not elaborate on those points but defended its ownership model — a major bone of contention with Jerkunica and the other TOA parties — and said it will undergo “upcoming reforms” that also were not specified.

Inside Minnesota Soccer has been on top of the league-wide story all along and has all the goods.

Here’s what I’ve been blogging on the subject over the last few months.