A University of Maryland soccer player is the latest student athlete to sue the NCAA over eligibility concerns related to previously playing professionally, bringing the issue clouding the future of college sports to a courthouse in Prince George鈥檚 County.
This case involves 22-year-old Antoine Coupland, a Canadian citizen who enrolled as a freshman at the school in January. But in denying his case, the NCAA cited his experience with a team in Croatia as well as the MLS developmental league, and the two-game stint during which he was loaned to the Vancouver Whitecaps full squad from their developmental team.
He played a total of 14 minutes in those two games and scored a goal.
鈥淭hey’re trying to say he went pro, which he didn’t,鈥� said Tim Maloney, Coupland鈥檚 attorney in the matter, in an interview with 蜜桃视频app.
He鈥檚 asking for a temporary and permanent injunction that would allow Coupland to play. A hearing on the matter is set for next week in Upper Marlboro.
鈥淭his is a young man who did what thousands of young soccer players do, which is he had youth training experience in the minor leagues, but never went pro,鈥� Maloney said.
Neither the NCAA nor the university would comment, though documents filed with the courts show Maryland officials arguing strenuously on Coupland鈥檚 behalf.
鈥淭he NCAA鈥檚 decision to deny Mr. Coupland鈥檚 reinstatement of eligibility is comprised of opinion-based characterizations that are contradicted by factual statements,鈥� university President Darryll Pines wrote in a five-page letter appealing the decision.
It鈥檚 part of the court record submitted by Maloney.
鈥淢r. Coupland鈥檚 case sits at the intersection of multiple evolving, and, at times, inconsistent areas of NCAA pre-enrollment legislation and eligibility certification practice,鈥� Pines added.
The MLS Player鈥檚 Association also wrote the NCAA, saying it wanted to help the organization in 鈥渁ccurately assessing鈥� Coupland鈥檚 eligibility status as it pertains to the contract he signed. It specifically pointed out Coupland did not receive the benefits or pay MLS first-team players get.
In the complaint, Coupland argues the NCAA was wrong to say he was given compensation beyond actual and necessary expenses, and that some of the numbers offered up by the NCAA as compensation he received, or expenses he incurred, were arbitrary and done in bad faith.
鈥淣CAA uses opaque average expenditure data and frequently changing criteria to make its 鈥榓ctual and necessary鈥� expenses,鈥� the lawsuit argues. 鈥淭his data and criteria are not transparent. They are published nowhere.鈥�
However, the lawsuit says the NCAA鈥檚 decision about Coupland is focused on the MLS games he played, and is a result of ongoing debates in the media and on Capitol Hill about professionalism in college sports.
Coupland鈥檚 lawyer says in the complaint the NCAA was looking to make 鈥渁 result-oriented decision,” and that NCAA staff “confirmed that NCAA senior leaders were focused on controlling the amateur narrative of intercollegiate athletics and permitting Antoine to compete might undermine that narrative.鈥�
鈥淪tudent-athletes routinely sign short-term professional agreements without forfeiting eligibility,鈥� said the complaint. 鈥淏ut the NCAA mistakenly believed Antoine signed the standard professional (MLS) agreement, not the short-term agreement.鈥�
It also points to other soccer players with appearances in England鈥檚 Premiere League, as well as the growing list of basketball players who played professionally in Europe before going to college, and says if injunctive relief isn鈥檛 granted, it jeopardizes Coupland鈥檚 academic career.
鈥淵et the NCAA portrays Antoine鈥檚 signing of these agreements themselves as violations, or an intent to professionalize, when they are not,鈥� it argues.
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