Major League Soccer released the rules concerning the upcoming Expansion Draft on Wednesday.
The draft, scheduled for Dec. 10 and consisting of 10 rounds, will be used to help stock the rosters of incoming teams Orlando City SC and New York City FC. It was last held in 2011 ahead of the Montreal Impact's first season in the league.
Among the most notable items in the rules, MLS clubs can protect 11 players on their roster, meaning those players will not be eligible for selection Orlando City or NYCFC. Even if a player's contract expires at the end of 2014, he is still considered part of his team's roster for the Expansion Draft, and teams will have to decide whether to protect him or not.
- Check out Orlando City news at OrlandoCitySC.com
Generation adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of 2014, as well as Homegrown players on a team's Supplemental Roster at the end of the current season, are automatically protected and will not take a spot on the 11-player protected list.
Teams are also limited in the number of international players they protect. They may make available a number of international players equal to their total number of international players minus three. The rules state that any non-domestic US players will count as international players for the Expansion Draft.
- Find New York City FC news at NYCFC.com
Also, Designated Players are not automatically protected, and teams have a choice to protect them, except in cases when a DP has a no-trade clause in his contract. In those instances, teams are required to protect those Designated Players.
Teams can lose no more than two players in the Expansion Draft.
To see a complete set of rules for the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft, click here. For more information on MLS roster rules, click here.
