Jermaine Jones has taken to social media to endorse a candidate in the USSF presidential election, but he also used the opportunity to make some really odd claims.
On an Instagram live post, after endorsing Eric Wynalda as his pick for the upcoming election and explaining why he would not like to see Kathy Carter chosen, he went on a very odd rant about how his 2014 MLS blind draw was rigged.
When Jones entered Major League Soccer at the expiry of his contract at Besiktas, a blind draw was held between New England and Chicago to determine who would receive the rights to his Designated Player contract. Jones claimed that MLS commissioner told him the draw would be rigged in New England’s favor.
I have no idea how if Instagram Live posts are archived, but Jermaine Jones dropped some bombs. Said Don Garber told him there was going to be a blind draw but New England would win instead of Chicago.
— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) February 6, 2018
Instagram live posts can be made available by the user for 24 hours after the video is posted, but Jones appears to have chosen not to make his post available.
He does have some thoughts on the presidential election still available as part of his Instagram story, including saying, “I don’t think we are going the right way with soccer in our country. We need a strong USSF president,, someone who played the game & speaks out what hurts. After missing the WC [World Cup] it’s time to face it! We run our soccer like family business & that shows us we aren’t on the right path.”
While Garber “politely decline[d] the opportunity” to respond to the claims, New England Revs president Brian Biello had this to say on Twitter.
The draw was done via a video conference call. Multiple people were on the call (including me) and witnessed it.
— Brian Bilello (@RevsPrez) February 6, 2018
Interestingly enough, Jones’ former LA Galaxy teammate Sebastian Lletget was seen posting a comment on Jones’ Instagram live video with the 💤 emoji, clearly not impressed with the claims Jones made.