NFL owners, players could open new talks; mediation at behest of federal judge
St. Paul, MN, United States (AHN Sports) – There is a new twist in the month-old impasse between the NFL’s owners and players after it was reported that mediation could resume during the league lockout.
According to the Washington Post, both sides might head back to the negotiation table this week. It will be under the direction of a mediator.
The resumption of talks is reportedly at the behest of U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson.
A report by USA TODAY Sunday, citing a source, indicated Judge Nelson, a federal judge in Minnesota, will impose forced mediation between the league owners and the players.
On Thursday, the locked-out players said their side was accepting Nelson’s offer for mediation under the auspices of the cour.
The league, on the other hand, wants the mediation to occur in Washington, D.C., under federal mediator George Cohen.
It was Cohen who oversaw 17 days of talks the failed to result in a new collective bargaining agreement.
It led to the players decertifying as a union which was followed by the owners’ move to lockout the players, creating the NFL’s first work stoppage since 1987.
Meanwhile, Judge Nelson indicated to the attorneys for both sides at a hearing Wednesday in St. Paul, MN., that she would need a “couple of weeks” to rule on the players’ injunction request.
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