The CAF has said it will back the Morocco bid, and this is where it gets interesting. Africa has 54 full members, so that means from the continent Morocco already has more than half the votes it needs to usurp the CONCACAF bid. If you want to compare a FIFA vote to a Canadian federal election, think of the CAF as riding-rich Ontario. Win Ontario, and you become awfully tough to beat.

What Miami FC, along with the lower-division Kingston Stockade FC (a team based in New York state), did is initiate an international legal proceeding targeting FIFA, CONCACAF and the United States Soccer Federation. What do the two clubs want? They have gone to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, claiming that FIFA is violating Swiss law (the body’s headquarters are in Switzerland) by not compelling the USSF to have a system of promotion and relegation between its professional divisions. MLS is Div-1, while USL and NASL are Div-2.

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.

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.

FIFA confirmed Tuesday that it has levied a series of fines and warnings to the Canadian Soccer Association due to poor fan and player behaviour during the recent series of World Cup qualifiers.

We notice more interest from our readers when we try to tackle a big topic over the course of several stories — and issue 10 of Plastic Pitch fits that bill. The MLS standings are always clogged, and 12 of 20 teams (60 per cent) make the playoffs. The No. 1 seed rarely goes on to win MLS Cup. Does …

I’ve been through a lot of them. It doesn’t get any easier with experience, let me tell you. Over the next couple of days, you’re going to go through a lot of deep, dark stuff. You’re going to weird out the people you know who aren’t into soccer (this is likely a good day to call in sick… oh, you’re at work already? Well, scratch that).

“The fans don’t come on the pitch to play, it’s not important,” said Floro.