THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996 TAG: 9606050543
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 99 lines
The Hampton Roads Mariners have fashioned a 7-2 record through the first third of their season, but they've done it without two players expected to anchor the team.
Darren Eales, the team's leading goal scorer from a year ago, and Mike Guerrero, a top-flight player from Europe, have been trapped in a paperwork nightmare. Entangled in a web of rules and regulations, both have been in Hampton Roads since April but are ineligible to play for the Mariners. And Guerrero can't play anywhere in the world.
Eales, who led Hampton Roads with 24 goals last year, is under contract to another team and has been unsuccessful in his efforts to get a release. Guerrero, a veteran of international play, isn't under contract to anyone but is stuck in an international limbo land for another week.
Eales' story is relatively simple. He has a contract with the New York Fever, an A-League team, and has been trying to get out of it for two months. According to Eleanor Petri, the professional registrar at the U.S. Soccer Federation, Eales has two options: get the Fever to release him or loan him to the Mariners. So far, the Fever has done neither.
Eales says he decided to leave the Fever two months ago after it combined with another team. He says the two-owner operation unsettled him.
``Originally, I was thinking of staying there to help out the owner I was close with,'' Eales said. ``But I wanted to be released because I couldn't play the whole season because I'm going to the University of North Carolina (in the fall) and couldn't complete the season.''
Shortly after Eales came to Virginia Beach in April, problems arose with his eligibility. He said he was on loan to the Mariners until mid-May, when the A-League team opened play, but Eales was sidelined during that time with an injured hamstring. Now that he is healthy, the New York team is barring him from playing with the Mariners.
A-League commissioner Richard Groff, who is handling all executive decisions for the Fever at this point, said the New York squad is offering Eales more money and has made plans to keep him.
``He's a quality player,'' Groff said. ``We don't like to give up our players that easily.''
Groff said Eales has ``every right'' to sit out and dispute his contract right now. He added that Eales has presented his case to the league and Groff will now talk with the Mariners' management to resolve the situation.
``I am leaning toward loaning him,'' Groff said. ``We obviously are willing to pay Darren more money than the Mariners. We're willing to keep working on it.''
Mariners coach Shawn McDonald said that once an agreement is reached, it will probably take only 48 hours to get Eales cleared through the USSF.
Loaning players is fairly common in the Mariners' league, the USISL. Currently, McDonald has five players on loan from the National Professional Soccer League and one from Major League Soccer.
Guerrero's story is more complicated. He arrived in April with what he believed was release paperwork from his German professional club. He played in, and scored a goal, in the Mariners' opener. But the USSF never received the necessary release from Germany, and Guerrero has not played since.
``International situations are always more complicated,'' McDonald said. ``There are language differences, time differences, protocol differences. The German teams are more possessive and don't cut you any slack. The Germans are slow to process paperwork and release players.''
The Mariners became impatient waiting for the release, and McDonald finally contacted Guerrero's German team. MacDonald said the team wanted a $6,000 fee to release Guerrero.
``With a $70,000 salary cap, that could pretty much be what a player makes for the season,'' McDonald said.
Guerrero sees the transfer fee as a basic difference in the American and European soccer community. In Europe, no team would have been surprised by being expected to ``buy'' him.
``When I signed with the German team, they paid a certain amount of money for me,'' he said. ``Whether it was an amateur contract or not, they paid for me. Over there, they have a transfer fee when you switch teams. The transfer fee varies, depending on how good you are.''
Two months ago, McDonald recognized the futility of waiting for the clearance and officially requested an international clearance. The process, via the USSF, takes 60 days to complete. Guerrero will be eligible to join the Mariners on June 11.
Oddly enough, his contract in Germany expired June 1, but European teams still require a release before a player can move to another team. Because soccer organizations the world over honor the sport's international governing body - Federation Internationale de Football Association - Guerrero will spend 10 weeks without a contract and still will be unable to play.
In the beginning, the loss of Eales and Guerrero was a devastating blow to the Mariners. Now, however, successful recruiting and good team chemistry have McDonald wondering where Eales and Guererro will fit in.
``They should fit well and complement the team well, but essentially they have to break in and make a mark,'' McDonald said. ``I think Darren especially is going to give us a scoring threat. Mike may have to take on another role for us. That all depends on him.''
McDonald has learned to go forward without the players and not hang any hopes on possible clearances.
``I think in the long run, it may have had a positive effect, because now we've gone out and gotten other players,'' McDonald said. ``As much as it hurt us early on and cause me extra paperwork and uncertainty on my end, I think it strengthened our team.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos<
Darren Eales, right, and Mike Guerrero, have been in limbo the
entire season.\ by CNB