Something foul in Tiangong

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Maintenance technicians are unable to rid the mold causing foul smell across the colony.

Wuji will be starting off the season in rotten shape and not only because of their dismal display in their first season.

Tiangong has been plagued by widespread issues with the colony's environment controls.  Mold infestations have produced  a foul, rotten odour that is being circulated through the entire facility.  To make matters worse, the right solution will require a complete replacement of filtration equipment, which could take weeks to source, build and install.

Tiangong officials have ensured residents that this does not pose a health risk for most people.  Those who have untreatable sensitivity have already been relocated to Korolev and Amrita. For everyone else, however, until abatement, there is little that can be done about the smell.

"We wish we could just flush the system and get back to normal," said a Tiangong spokesman, “But, unfortunately, we need to address a design flaw to get at the root of the problem.  Until we can safely swap out all of the impacted components and deploy the anti-microbial measures, we will have to endure."

Until that time, the Wuji players have decided to moved out of the habitat and have been camping in their club land transport vehicle.

Interim manager, Desmond Dino Yu, expressed disappointment in the distraction leading up to their opening game against the Titans, but found some positives, "There is nothing like a crisis to bring the team together," he said, “Living out of the transport keeps us close to the pitch and, I expect, we’ll have a capacity crowd as people will want to get out of the colony for a breath of fresh air."

Wuji will face the San Olympus Titans on the 8th of Mithuna, who will, no doubt, have a a lot to prove after their defeat in the finals at the hands of the Comets.

Can Comets Defend Their Title?

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To defend one’s championship title requires one’s defence to be just as good if not better than in the previous year.  And balanced defence was a calling card for the Marineris Comets led by Defender of the year Stephen Liu. 

Yet Liu will be tasked to take on more as the Comets will return this year losing significant defensive depth as Meghana Singh and Vitor Medina have confirmed their withdrawal from Season 2 MAFL play. 

“We’ll miss them [Meg and Vitor] as they were unsung heroes in our championship run. They ate a ton of minutes for us, shut down opponents consistently, and were first class citizens for team chemistry,” said Liu. 

And to add to manager Gordan J Pryce’s troubles, forward Ellis Black has also made the decision to return to his career in the space sciences.  Black, who is 31 years old, accepted a role with Tyconika Gam, a contractor for Earth space agencies.

“The grind of the season and gruelling demands of being a full-time athlete isn't for everyone,” said Pryce. “Even when you are talented, it doesn't mean it is your calling.  We thank all of them for their contributions to not only our championship, but to the 2 years they invested to make MAFL a reality.”

The Comet's unique gradient colour scheme is out.  Bradley and team appeared in the their new uniforms during pre-season training session.

Even with a the loss of 3 players, the Comets will still have one of the largest rosters in the league with 22 members.   A bigger issue may be the club's lax off-season approach compared with many other clubs that have had little or no break..   

“Truth be told, I haven’t thought about Season 2 a whole lot,” confessed Liu. “I’ve been trying to enjoy some down time out with friends – we caught the Pathfinder sprint rounds in the mobile settlements and made it to a few hockey games."

This raised concerns with Captain Liddell Bradley upon hearing how his teammates have utilized their off season. 

“I don’t want any complacency sinking in,” said Bradley. “Look, we earned our fan base at home, and thus more expectations for season 2. We will need to work harder. The road to repeat starts now.”
 

Owners Contribute to Relief Effort

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Unprecedented devastation rocks the Earth with submerged landmass and dozens of cities left in ruins.  

The crisis continues to unfold on Earth after last week's cataclysmic events.  The series of earthquakes have taken a global toll affecting countries that straddle the boundaries of the Ring of Fire.  Japan and the West American Quadrant were the hardest hit.  The exact loss of life is still unknown after the initial wave of tectonic activity began 6 days ago, but hundreds of thousands are thought to have perished.

Following protocol, Martian Councils convened late on Martis, shortly after receiving reports of the incident.  A key part to the Martian response, confirmed by the United Council of Mars and the Immigration Council, will include a mass evacuation of all pre-approved, waitlisted applicants from the affected regions. This effectively means expediting off-world relocation of more than 35,000 people, many of which have already been airlifted from the disaster zones to makeshift camps near launch centres around the world.

There is an attempt to move 5,000 of these survivors and rendezvous with the next immediate passing craft. It's a very narrow window as significant preparations are required to transport such a large number of human passangers.

The circuit between Earth and Mars currently has 12  freighter crafts that perpetually circle the two planets, making cargo transfers every 2 Martian months.  Moving the remaining 30,000 would take at least 1/2 an Earth Year according to specialists, however, mission planners are looking at ways to accelerating the program.

Colonies have less than 7 months to prepare for the staged population influx.  Osumi colony has committed to receive all of the first inbound evacuants, largely coming from affected regions in Japan.  This number represents 5 time the current capacity of the colony.

Receiving the evacuees will be a massive undertaking and this initiative is largely possible due to the financial and resource contributions of Martian organizations, most notably the MAFL.  

"Luckily we were all in Europa for a meeting when we caught wind of the crisis," said Aiger Masing, commissioner of the MAFL, "All club owners, including Kamden Lewis (San Olympus Titans) , Vijya Pandey (Amrita Immortals) , and Jubair Muhammad (Al'amal S.C.) have signed on to support the UCM in these efforts."

The United Council of Mars, representing all settlements, have approved resurrecting the former British colony mission that was abandoned in late 2067.  Key members of the original operation, who ended up in other colonies, will be reactivated to lead the operation and administration. By leveraging the existing infrastructure and construction, it is conceivable a new colony can be established to house between 8 to 10 thousand people.  Growing the organics components required for life support for this population size will be the biggest challenge for environmental engineers.

Additionally, integration of new colonists is also a concern, especially due to the traumatic circumstances.  Transition programs are typically 24-40 weeks (depending on the host colony); pre-colonists are required to live in replica facilities on Earth that resemble their target colony. On average 15% wash out for one reason or another, so this safety net won't be there to filter cold-feet or screening unfit individuals.  

Kamden Lewis, who continues to operate multiple businesses on Earth, is said to have lost at least one of his California-based facilities and headquarters.  In a statement, he stated, "Mars resources will be put to the test both in terms of infrastructure and the social impact.  Our part to welcome these new colonists will be easy compared to the ongoing recovery efforts back on Earth. We will work tirelessly on both planets to help in any way we can."

In the near-term, MAFL and other sport organizations will play an important role in helping keep colony morale up.  

“We’ve never assimilated new migrants under these extenuating circumstances before,” said Rjek Someni, head of Martian Immigration Control Council, “We are asking everyone to support this mission, including the burgeoning sport community.  It's going to be culture shock on a massive scale, so sports may be one way to ease the transition.  It's going to affect all of our lives.”

Outfits and Upgrades for Al'amal

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MAFL clubs have been upgrading equipment to meet new specifications and updates for safety, but some clubs have taken the opportunity to come back for season 2 in style.

In a recent outdoor training session, Al'amal players were seen sporting completely new EV suits.  The reported capacity increases for life support are not significantly noticeable against the new design and colours .  Style-wise, Al'amal has definitely stepped up their game.

Abandoning their previously green and gold palette, the club has added grey and introduced handsome Teal accents. 

"These [uniforms] make us feel powerful," said team captain Musaddiq Baddour, "A number of issues we had with the previous equipment has largely been addressed, so this is a huge improvement that will contribute to performance across the league."

Tech pack components extend life support capacity and will include newer safety countermeasures.  The packs are reverse compatible with the propulsion systems integrated into previous generation EV suits.

Al'amal Sport Club has proudly announced they are returning with 100% of their original roster from season 1.  After rumours from Marineris earlier in the week that the championship team will be losing multiple players, this was welcome news for Al'amal fans.

"Trades were just not interesting to us.  If we learned anything, it is how our team embodies and represents our great colony," said club manager, Haajid Nasr, "We did spend a lot of time looking at local recruits over the break.  Though we won't be adding anyone to the lineup, we intend on investing in top candidates to grow the talent pool for the future."

Al'amal SC will officially fund a junior club program starting in parallel with season 2.  An inter-colony junior league remains unlikely due to the tremendous costs and time commitments associated with cross-Mars transport, so actual benefits of a local junior program will have the same limitations as recreational sports clubs. 

MAFL Countdown

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Same Teams and almost all of the players from season 1 will be returning to the pitch in the much awaited 2nd Season of the MAFL.

In just 4 weeks, the MAFL will kick off season 2.

The league and the club owners have been quiet during the break, sharing little news or updates while training camp has been underway for weeks.  Mr. Aiger, President of the MAFL, broke silence today to officially announced Mithuna the 7th to be the opening weekend of play.

He confirmed that the original 8 teams will be returning for season 2, but revealed that Wendland and Columbia Hills will be joining in the league expansion for season 3.

He called out a number of key points related to "build on the learnings" and making changes that will make the game "even better" than than the first season.

Restricted team changes

In the spirit of growing talent, clubs have agreed to limited player changes, including no more than 1 trade and a maximum of 2 new recruitments.

Club owners will be sharing final roster in the upcoming weeks as they continue to make adjustments.  Several players have bowed out during the off season for personal reasons, but otherwise, virtually all of the familiar faces will be returning.

"Not all teams were made equal, but none of us wanted to see drastic changes.", said Matthäus Reinmann, manager of Europa United, "This seasons is about continuity and refinement.  I expect that it is going to be different than the inaugural season as every club has had time to reflect and work out issues."

Though Tiangong Wuji restructured their management team and said good-bye to head coach Bobby Chung after finishing in last place last season, the club expressed support on the team change restrictions, ironically saying:  "You never give up on your people.  That isn't the  Martian-way."

Rules Refinements

Aiger has implied that minor 'tweaks' have been made to the rule book, but here are a few notable outcomes:

• An actual referee on the pitch. The official will be supported by 2 members in the control room and the same distribution of robot officials.

• Ball deceleration – this one is a bit controversial among the clubs as this season's balls will be adjusted for programatic deceleration. The league claims this will improve safety, however, it seems counter intuitive considering boost propellent capacity will also be increasing this year.

• Life support requirement have also been upped after multiple incidents in season 1. In addition to a number of EV suit specifications updates to address safety concerns, tech packs must support greater oxygen supply and helmets have new requirements. Some clubs have have taken this opportunity for equipment redesign and branding.

• The Penalty Kick shootout will be replaced with Extra Time (AET) to resolve tied matches.

Spectator Seating

5 colonies have approved and have retrofit stadiums to support new outdoor seating, including Europa, Amrita, Marineris, Al'amal, and Tiangong.  There will continue to be pitch-side viewing in the safety of the spectator vehicle, but  these stadiums are provided covered bleachers where spectators will be able to enjoy the games in consumer-grade EV Suits that they can rent or buy.  The canopies are required to provide additional radiation protection and the suits are also designed to plug-in to a the stadium seating which both augments the suits life support and provides a direct feed of programmed in-came content.