Tulsa Athletic soccer team suspended for 2024 season

TULSA, Okla. — FOX23 spoke with one of the owners of the Tulsa Athletic Soccer Club on Monday following Friday's announcement that the team has been suspended from the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL).

FOX23 reported Tulsa Athletic announced the NPSL suspended them for the 2024 season for unknown reasons on Friday.

Tulsa Athletic posted on X, formerly Twitter, a letter from the NPSL Board of Directors. The letter states the team is suspended, effective immediately, and the games scheduled for this weekend are canceled.

Tulsa Athletic was looking to defend its NPSL national championship after winning the league in 2023. Tulsa Athletic was also regional champs in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Sonny Dalesandro, one of the owners of Tulsa Athletic, spoke with FOX23 on Monday.

He said the team was informed they would not be playing in the 2024 season on Friday, which was two days before their home opening game was scheduled on Sunday, May 19. They were not given a reason for the suspension.

FOX23 and Tulsa Athletic have both since reached out to NPSL and received the same the same statement that does not include a reason.

See the NPSL's official statement here:

Last year, NPSL would not allow Tulsa Athletic to play at their home field at Hicks Park due to field and stadium quality concerns.

Tulsa has been a member of the league for 11 years now, and the team won their championship playing at RSU last year.

The team said they took legal action against the league in April for their "unwillingness to elaborate or provide a pathway for our home field." No one could confirm or deny this is related.

The soccer team said they just want some sort of communication or reason to move forward and compete, but said they haven't received any.

The team said they will soon announce a competitive schedule for this season outside of the league with teams that have agreed to play against them at Hicks Park.

The team released a full statement:

"It is with great disappointment that we must announce that we will be unable to defend our 2023 NPSL national championship. The attached letter of suspension from the NPSL board of directors cites no specific reason as to why Tulsa Athletic are suspended.

We worked tirelessly and in good faith to reach agreement with the league in recent weeks, but this was the final result. Our lawsuit against the league remains pending.

Although this decision was given to us less than a week prior to the first match of the season, we remain committed to bringing top tier soccer to Tulsa and Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park.

We are sorry that a team of committed players that came to defend a national championship was stripped of this chance by the NPSL board of directors. We expect to announce matches for the summer soon.

We will continue to strive to do what is best for our fans, our players, and our club Though we do not accept this decision and find it entirely unjust, we remain committed to playing entertaining soccer this summer.

Yours in soccer,

Sonny Dalesandro, Dr. Thomas Kern, Alfred Mockett"

To help support Tulsa Athletic, the Minneapolis City SC launched the ' Save Tulsa Tee.' All proceeds go to the team's legal fund.

To pre-order a shirt, click HERE .