MLS players union unsure of management

NEW YORK — The union for Major League Soccer players is accusing management of failing to bargain seriously and wouldn't say whether it would play under the terms of its expired labor contract.

A day after MLS president Mark Abbott went public with the league's offer to start the season next month without a new deal, the union issued a statement Sunday that left open the possibility of the league's first strike.

MLS Players Union spokesman Neil Hare said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the league's comment show "they are not serious" about getting a new collective bargaining agreement.

Hare said the union had no other comment and that no one on the union side had time to discuss the matter further Sunday.