NFL lockout still in place

This year’s NFL season remains in doubt after an appeals court reinstated the league’s lockout on Monday.

The Eighth Circuit of Appeals said the lockout remains in place, with a full appeal set for June 3 in St Louis to determine the whether the new NFL season will occur.

NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith is hopeful an agreement can be reached next month, so players can return to pre-season training.

“We obviously hoped that the circuit would not grant the stay and that football would come back for our fans and our players,” he said.

‘Right now, our guys are out there working out for free, because they dig the game. The case will be heard by the appellate court on June 3, we look forward to the argument. But look, this is something the players are prepared for. It’s a disappointment, obviously.”

“As far as we can tell, this is the first sports league in history that’s sued to not play its game. Congratulations. What we’re going to do is continue to work hard on behalf of the players. We believe in the mediation process, we’re going to honor the confidentiality and my hope is that someday soon we can get back to playing football.”

NFL general counsel Jeff Pash wants a resolution to be reached as soon as possible.

“You don’t resolve things through litigation,” he said on the NFL website.

“We’ve been clear on that. And what we need to be doing is focusing all our attention on the process that’s going on here in this building, with the assistance of the chief judge and in serious discussions with the players.”

“We have an opportunity to resolve this matter and get the game back on the field, and that really should be our exclusive focus – not litigation, not stays or injunctions, things like that.”

“That’s not going to solve anything. I’m glad that it came out the way that it did. But it’s just one step in a process and we need to focus on negotiation. That’s the only way we’re going to resolve this.”

The NFL season is due to start on September 8 if an agreement can be reached.