Chris McCann, Kenwyne Jones acquire green cards, won’t require international slots

I should preface this post by stating that I’m not an immigration expert, nor do I play one on TV. However, Atlanta United announced on Tuesday afternoon that Chris McCann and Kenwyne Jones have finalized the paperwork to acquire U.S. Permanent Resident Cards (a.k.a. green cards). This means they’ll no longer count as international players and won’t require international slots.

Before this move was announced, 12 international players were on the roster with only 9 international slots in the club’s possession. Assuming that Romario Williams’ loan to the Battery is official, that leaves 11 players and 9 slots. This news effectively squashes the club’s international slot problem and finalizes the team’s roster.

Worries were that either Julian Gressel or Kevin Kratz could be the odd men out due to the numbers game, but the team have found a way around that problem by getting Jones and McCann green cards right before the season starts. March 1st is the MLS Roster Compliance date. So, we should see Williams’ move announced and in conjunction with the new roster rules permitting extra roster slots for Homegrown players, the final 29 or 30 player roster finalized.

I have no idea how they did it, but they did it.