The NASL believes that the Ottawa expansion team will be ready to play in 2014, even if the stadium isn’t. But sources close to the Canadian Soccer Association have told The 11 that Ottawa's won't be a host city for the U-20 Women's World Cup.

Now the plan to allow Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group to redevelop Frank Clair stadium can go ahead — so the new facility can be used in time for the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the expansion NASL franchise and, oh yeah, the CFL team, too.

As press conferences go, the announcement of Canada’s 2015 Women’s World Cup host cities was about as anticlimactic as they get.

“Really, there isn’t a stadium in the city that is suitable (to be a temporary home to NASL),” said Pugh. “I know it’s hard to believe that in the Capital City, there is no other stadium, but that is the case. So, we considered our options and thought the way to go is to begin play in what will be our permanent home.”

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.

“In essence, we need four very good training fields in each city,” said Montopoli. “They need to be at an international standard. There are many options, some can have grass or some can have artificial turf.”

GOLTV has confirmed that it is in talks with the NASL about extending its coverage of the league into the 2012 season.

When the new Ottawa franchise enters the North American Soccer League as an expansion franchise in 2014, it should have all the ingredients in place to have as successful a debut as FC Edmonton has enjoyed in 2011. Ottawa — which was officially announced Monday as a 2014 expansion team — has even more of a local soccer program to build on than FC Edmonton had, said FCE owner Tom Fath.

Jeff Hunt and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group are preparing for a press conference Monday to announce an NASL expansion club for the Capital region. And, like FC Edmonton, the Ottawa side won’t have any affiliation to another Canadian pro club. That was confirmed by league sources Thursday.

Now, the next part of the debate: Which cities will get the plum games — Canada’s home games, semifinals and final? FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association released the names of the seven “candidate” cities to host games. Toronto wasn’t on that list, as expected, because of the conflict between the WWC and the Pan Am Games. The seven cities: Halifax, Moncton, Montreal Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.