Both the Montreal Impact and FC Edmonton will have full sanctions to participate in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, said Impact owner Joey Saputo in an NASL conference call Wednesday. He said the indications he has from the CSA is that the format for the four-team NCC will be released in the next couple of weeks, and that the Impact and FCE would be seen as Div. 2 clubs. But, he is confident that all eight NASL teams will have Div. 2 status after Saturday’s United States Soccer Federation vote in Las Vegas. The NASL expects the USSF board to approve its re-application for Div. 2 status on Friday, and then have the membership ratify that vote on Saturday.

The Boys from Brazil are propping up the Carolina RailHawks franchise. Traffic USA, which already owns Miami FC and is a “strategic partner” in the Atlanta Silverbacks franchise, announced Friday that it was taking the lead financial position in a new partnership in the struggling RailHawks franchise.

It's making its rounds throughout the soccer media. But seven of the eight NASL teams are represented (by supporters groups) in this open letter to U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati, urging him to grant the league official Div. 2 status. The USSF meets next week. Two weeks ago, the USSF stripped the NASL of its provisional acceptance as the official Div. 2 of soccer in America, but the NASL has carried on with business as usual, and is confident it can win back the status. The league has stated that going down to Div. 3 is not an option.

Bas Ent’s bags are literally packed. The 23-year-old Dutch winger is in Holland at the moment waiting to hear from Toronto FC. Ent was offered a three-year deal by the MLS club, though he has yet to officially sign a contract. “It’s not all settled,” says Ent, who played over the winter with Dutch side, Katwijk. “I’m just waiting for that moment to sign with TFC.”

Hamilton Tiger-Cats' owner Bob Young still has plans to bring a North American Soccer League expansion franchise to Hamilton, even though he and the city are still at philosophical odds over the site for the construction of a new stadium. Young and the city have been through numerous discussions about the 15,000-seat stadium, which is to be built for the 2015 Pan American Games. Both the Canadian federal and provincial governments have promised to put money into the cost of building the stadium, along with the city. Young has promised to provide some $10 million towards the stadium construction, and among other things has indicated he will pursue an NASL franchise to steer the city council towards a site he prefers. The stadium would have to be expanded to fit 25,000-30,000 to make it suitable for the Canadian Football League's template.

Bas Ent could be in Toronto FC colours next season. Ent, a 23-year-old from Zaandam, Holland, has received serious interest from TFC, who gave the pacy winger a 45-minute trial in a friendly with EPL side Bolton Wanderers earlier this year. Dutch media has reported that Ent has already signed with the MLS club but there are plenty of details to work out before he officially goes to Toronto. “He is not eligible until we let him go,” says Mike Mossel, co-owner of Dayton Dutch Lions FC, the USL Premier Development League team that Ent played on last season. “The question is what does Toronto want to pay for him and how much do we want for him?”

Mike Mossel always saw the USL Premier Development League as a springboard for Dayton Dutch Lions FC. After a successful debut in the PDL last season, the Lions were pegged for promotion to USL-2. But the recent creation of the new USL PRO league, essentially a merger of the USL’s top two divisions, has expedited a process that Mossel, the co-owner of DDL, fully expected to experience in coming seasons. “Our plan was to move up to USL-1 in three years,” says Mossel. “This speeds up the process.”

Even though both the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps are moving to MLS, both are retaining their memberships in the second-division NASL. NASL chief executive officer Aaron Davidson confirmed that MLS is aware that both the Impact and Whitecaps are retaining their memberships in NASL, even though Vancouver makes its debut as an MLS city in 2011 and Montreal makes the move in 2012. “They can still have teams in NASL; those teams can have synergies with the MLS franchises or they can be standalone teams,” said Davidson Tuesday, over the phone from Paraguay.