Jermaine Jones suspended six matches, could miss World Cup qualifiers

Major League Soccer announced on Friday that it has suspended New England Revolution and United States men's national team midfielder Jermaine Jones six matches for his actions in the first round of the MLS Playoffs. Jones, incensed at a no-call by Mark Geiger, charged at the referee and made contact with him several times receiving a red card.

According to MLS and U.S. Soccer rules, the punished player cannot participate in any soccer competition while serving the suspension. Since MLS' season doesn't begin until March, if Jones stays in the league for the 2016 season, he would most certainly miss both USMNT World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala. While the 36-year-old is getting up there in years, he's still an important cog in the American midfield machine and would be sorely missed.

However, as Steven Goff of the Washington Post points out, there is a workaround for Jones to be available for the these two important matches. If he moves to a new club that's not in MLS, and in turn has fixtures before March, he'd be able to serve the time before any important USMNT matches take place. This seems to be the most logical outcome of this dilemma.

Reports have already surfaced about his likely departure from New England this offseason. All that's left to figure out is what clubs out there have an interest in a veteran midfielder. Could a return to Germany be on the cards? Or perhaps a move down Mexico way? Both are plausible and would do the trick to get him back on track for the March qualifiers. Would he sacrifice his club future for a few national team matches? That remains to be seen.