Major League Soccer jumps the gun on Toronto FC playoff situation

TORONTO – Major League Soccer has backtracked on awarding Toronto FC a playoff berth.

“Upon further analysis, @FCDallas are the first team to secure a playoff spot. @torontofc has not clinched yet,” MLS said Monday on its communications department Twitter feed.

MLS had said that Toronto, which leads the Eastern Conference with a 13-8-8 record with five games remaining in the regular season, had booked its ticket to the post-season with Sunday’s 3-3 tie with the visiting New York Red Bulls. Toronto, in its post-match notes, said it was the first team into the 2016 playoffs.

The league said it subsequently discovered a mathematical error had occurred when calculating post-season scenarios.

“We certainly regret the error and we have refined our process to ensure it won’t happen again,” a league spokesman said.

Toronto will clinch a playoff berth Saturday if it beats Philadelphia Union or New England ties or loses its game with Columbus Crew SC or Orlando wins or ties its game against D.C. United or the New York Red Bulls beat the Montreal Impact.

FC Dallas leads the West with a 15-8-7 mark.