SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Women's Professional Soccer announced Monday it has suspended the 2012 season to focus on recovering from a legal battle with a Florida team owner.
Sky Blue FC Owner Thomas Hofstetter said in a statement the league's board of directors made the move so the WPS could turn its attention to "certain pending legal issues and the challenges that now face the league as a result of its ongoing dispute with a former owner."
In October, the league tried to terminate the MagicJack franchise, based in Boca Raton, Fla., and owned by Dan Borislow of Palm Beach, Fla., for what the league called the owner's "unprofessional behavior," The Palm Beach Post reported.
Borislow told the newspaper that after months of legal battles, he had settled with the WPS and thought the league was set to move forward without his club.
The statement said the WPS plans to return to play in 2013 with all five existing teams -- the Atlanta Beat, Boston Breakers, Philadelphia Independence, Sky Blue FC and Western New York Flash -- to remain active.
