Report: Reigning MLS MVP Carlos Vela Opts Out of MLS is Back Tournament


The reigning league MVP reportedly will not join his team in Orlando for the MLS is Back Tournament.

LAFC forward Carlos Vela will sit out of Major League Soccer's return tournament this summer, the Los Angeles Times reports

Vela, the league's top scorer and reigning MVP, has reportedly elected to stay home with his pregnant wife and three-year-old son. 

The MLS is Back tournament kicks off this week in Orlando, with LAFC's first game is scheduled for July 13. The league gave players the opportunity to opt out of the five-week tournament for health and family reasons. 

Vela, LAFC's captain and one of the league's biggest stars, is the highest-profile player so far to forego the tournament. 

Vela scored 34 goals in a 31-game stretch last season, breaking the MLS single-season scoring record and leading LAFC to the best single-season record in league history. He scored in both of the team's two games prior to the league's shutdown in March, giving him goals in 11 consecutive appearances. 

Twelve other players and two staff members from three other teams have have tested positive for COVID-19 over the last eight days inside the league's protective bubble, according to the Los Angeles Times. But there were only two positives out of 1,191 tests during the last round of testing, the lowest number in over a week, the league said

Nine players and one coach on the FC Dallas squad have tested positive for COVID-19. According to a league statement, every member of the team's traveling group tested negative before leaving on Saturday morning. But, when they arrived, two players tested positive and were immediately isolated from the rest of FC Dallas and other MLS clubs. 

However, as they tested more of the club, four more FC Dallas players tested positive, bringing the total to six. After those initial results were released, The Athletic reported that three more FC Dallas players and one coach tested positive for COVID-19 while in Orlando. 

As a result, the game between FC Dallas and the Vancouver Whitecaps has been postponed to a later date, the league announced. 

Florida's coronavirus cases have surged in recent weeks, coinciding with the league's announcement that it would stage a closed-door tournament at ESPN's Wide World of Sports complex. Florida has reported more than 200,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, leading to 3,730 deaths. 

The MLS is Back tournament is scheduled to begin Wednesday. Orlando City will face Inter Miami in the league's first game since March.