The Ottawa Fury, at the moment, is homeless.

But, officially, the Canadian Premier League era began Saturday in Whistler B.C., as the new league was ratified by the Canadian Soccer Association.

But, when the Mexican, American and Canadian soccer associations joined together Monday in New York to unveil that they would sign a memorandum of understanding to jointly bid for the 2026 World Cup, United States Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said that, in fact, this tripartite pact had been in the works for years.

For one, well, FIFA rules state that, for senior tournaments, all games have to be played on the same type of surface. So, of COURSE that means Mexican and American venues are going to have to make sure they’ve got artificial turf to match the Canadian standard! Yes! I can’t wait to hear droning international-feed commentators moaning about how brutal the turf temperature is at Azteca Stadium during an afternoon game in July.

Post-Christmas, Canadian Soccer Association and CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani told the media that he was “open” to the idea of a joint bid between Canada, the United States and Mexico for the 2026 World Cup.

In a system without promotion and relegation, why is it important for us to have divisional distinctions for leagues? Really, why do we care so much what a series of suit-and-tie guys deem to be Divisions 1, 2 and 3 in North America?

Remember, though, FIFA has a rule about senior World Cups. All games must be played on the same surface. Either they’re all on grass, or all on artificial turf. Unless that rule changes, or the Mexicans and Americans agree to tear up a lot of grass, a joint bid would mean that Canadians would be left with the very pricy option of placing grass surfaces in stadiums.

Going forward, there will be ways for Canadians to become domestics league-wide in MLS, but it might be almost as difficult as it is to satisfy all the parameters to becoming a free agent in MLS.

So, a Canadian League, a Canadian team guaranteed to play in MLS Cup and a possible end to discrimination against Canadian players by American teams?

But the fact that Swope Park Rangers (the American affiliate of Sporting Kansas City) beat WFC2 (the Canadian affiliate of the Vancouver Whitecaps) 3-0 in the USL’s Western Conference final is actually a good thing for soccer north of the border.