Mili plays with Omaha’s Azzurri soccer club, which entered a few teams in the Springfield tournament. Rules stated players can compete for only one team.
Azzurri director Mo Farivari told ESPNW the club swapped players among its teams. He said he wasn’t aware of the rule and that sharing players is allowed at his tournament in Omaha.
The rule, however, was spelled out on the entry form the Azzurri representative signed. A check of the Azzurri website showed it was also the form Farivari used in his tournament last year.
The gender confusion arose because Mili was accidentally listed as “M” for male on the roster. Adding to that were suspicions that Mili’s Cachorros Chicas team used an actual boy.
Burgett said the coach admitted that to him. Farivari did not respond to my email seeking his side of that story.
There were more technicalities, but the bottom line is three Azzurri teams were disqualified for using illegal players. But confusion over the “M” and allegations an actual boy had played had Cachorros supporters smelling a rat.
Someone called a local TV station, which interviewed Mili and family members. Her dad said he tried to show proof Mili was a girl, but tournament officials wouldn’t budge.
That’s because it wasn’t an issue.
Burgett’s mistake was telling the TV crew he didn’t want to comment until he’d checked with a lawyer. So the story aired with only Mili saying she’d been told she was kicked out because people thought she was a boy.
