Teamtalk: Ottawa
Wizards Keep-Up Winning Spell
by Winnipeg Fury
Wizards keep up winning spell
By Andy Morris
1 August
2001 (TEAMtalk) - The Ottawa Wizards are determined to make up for lost time,
after being allowed back into the CPSL.
In their first year in the
league, one of the four expansion teams to join over the winter, the Wizards
have been beset by legal problems.
But they have bounced back with two
straight victories after a court judge lifted their league suspension.
The Wizards went to the Ontario Superior Court to obtain an injunction
against the ban imposed by the league, on orders from the Ontario Soccer
Association.
The OSA said the team had failed to comply with an appeals
committee decision in June.
The dispute did not directly concern the
Wizards, but was over registration fees owed by the OZ Dome Sports Club –
property belonging to the team owners.
This latest decision is the
fourth ruling on the issue, but important for the Wizards as it allows them to
return to action.
CPSL president Vincent Ursini said he was pleased with
the decision to allow the team to continue playing for a two-week period.
He said: “There are aspects of this case I intend to bring to the
attention of the governing bodies in the hope these disputes can continue to be
worked out within the confines of soccer."
“Events such as this can be
very stressful and divisive and we must work towards avoiding a case such as
this going so far."
The Wizards had only one league defeat to their name
and had qualified for the semi-finals of the League Cup.
They faced a
difficult two-game road trip south over the weekend but gained a huge
psychological lift when they beat defending champions and top-placed Toronto
Olympians 2-1 in the first match.
A 2-0 win over the North York Astros
took the Wizards into fourth place in the table with four games in hand over
both the Olympians and third-placed St. Catharines Roma Wolves.
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