MLS Commissioner Don Garber

He may have had a good excuse to not be paying attention — having just spent weeks hammering out a vital labor contract that likely saved his league — but MLS Commissioner Don Garber showed no signs of understanding D.C.’s fragile financial state yesterday, expressing public frustration regarding the city’s failure to build D.C. United a new stadium.

“I just can’t understand why we can’t make progress in D.C., and what more do we need to do to have the politicians in that community understand the relevance of that club, it’s deep commitment to the community,” he said during a recent media conference call, according to the Associated Press (via WTOP). “I am tired of going down to meetings and getting my back slapped and [going to] faux press conferences with mayors and local city officials to have them backtrack on that because they can’t get out of their own way,” he added.

The team may have reason to be frustrated, given that discussions over a new publicly financed stadium in the District have been floating around since 2007, when Poplar Point was designated as a possible location. Those discussions went nowhere, and since then the team has shifted focus to searches for potential locations in both Maryland and Virginia.

But Garber won’t be making himself any new friends with this round of comments, given the large budget gaps the District is facing and the fact that the city may not even be allowed to borrow any money for some time. Additionally, it’s no secret that most members of the D.C. Council might be hesitant to vote for another stadium — no matter how important the team is to the community — given the controversy and cost overruns associated with Nationals Park.