NASL Commissioner David Downs made himself available to be interviewed by The 11 on Tuesday. The commissioner, now in his second year with the league, talked about the Ottawa situation, Edmonton's new stadium plans and further expansion into Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean.

The decision, made by the USSF in Miami this morning, ensures stability for FC Edmonton, Puerto Rico Islanders and the six U.S. mainland teams in the circuit, as well as the coming expansion franchise from Ottawa.

The NSC Minnesota Stars hold a 3-1 lead over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers after the first leg. The league announced Wednesday that the second leg from Florida would be broadcast on GolTV. The game will be shown on tape at 10 p.m. ET this Saturday. It is shown live on the web, through nasl.com.

The North American Soccer League announced Tuesday that FC Edmonton defender John Jonke’s suspension will end after Saturday’s match in Carolina against the RailHawks.

Our good friends at IMSoccer News, a fantastic spot to catch up on the happenings of Div. 2, have their latest podcast up, and it features an interview with NASL commissioner David Downs. As well, yours truly talks with host Brian Quarstad about FC Edmonton’s struggles in their recent two all-Canadian match-ups, in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship against Toronto FC and in NASL action Sunday against Montreal. FC Edmonton lost those games by an aggregate score of 8-0.

The NASL’s disciplinary committee will review the red cards handed out to FC Edmonton FC keeper Rein Baart and forward Chris Lemire on Tuesday. Both were sent off in Sunday’s 5-0 loss to the Montreal Impact, in front of NASL commissioner David Downs, who traveled to Edmonton to witness the first-ever league game at Foote Field.

The Montreal Impact sent all of NASL a message on Sunday night. And FC Edmonton showed some serious defensive and goalkeeping frailties. The Impact routed FCE 5-0 in the first NASL game played at Foote Field, with league commissioner David Downs in attendance.

FC Edmonton and the Montreal Impact both start the NASL season on the road this Saturday — and their fans will be able to stream those games, for free.

The North American Soccer League took a step towards stability with the hiring of an independent commissioner on Monday. David Downs will take over as the head domo of the second-division league on April 4. Downs has 30 years of broadcast experience as an executive with ABC Sports and Univision Communications. He negotiated U.S. broadcast rights for World Cups from USA ’94 to Brazil 2014. He was also the head of the U.S. bid committee for the 2022 World Cup, which lost out to Qatar in the voting.