Already assured of selling out its first nine home games, Seattle Sounders FC has decided to increase the capacity of its Qwest Field seating configuration.

The team has announced it will open seating in the south end zone starting with the June 28 game against Colorado. That will increase capacity from just over 29,000 to about 32,000 - similar to the Sounders’ inaugural game on March 19, when 32,523 saw them beat New York, 3-0.

The Sounders are the first team in MLS history to have 28,000 or more fans at five consecutive matches, and they already have sold all tickets available to the next four matches through June 28. But even though the new sections will open on that day, the June 28 game remains listed as a sellout because the additional seats will go to servicemen and women as part of a military tribute.

The additional seating will be available to the general public for the first time for the July 11 game against Houston.

The Sounders will use the entire stadium’s capacity — 67,000 — by opening the upper decks for international friendlies July 18 against Chelsea and Aug. 5 against FC Barcelona.

MLS executive vice president Todd Durbin has released the following statement regarding referee Tim Weyland, who the Sounders have criticized for his work in Sunday's 1-1 draw with LA:

“He is an experienced referee who didn’t have his best day. As we saw in the recent UEFA Champions League semifinals, referees in soccer will always come under scrutiny because their decisions can have significant impact on the game. But that is a function of the sport, not our League. It happens throughout the world.

“We provide input to U.S. Soccer for their review of all our matches to ensure the best available referees work our games. That process is ongoing and rigorous. If a referee is not performing well, U.S. Soccer has, and will, remove that official from future MLS matches.”

The Sounders are off today, and therefore no news is expects out of Tukwila today. However, that gives us a good day to discuss some of that's been going on with the team recently.

Here's Dave Boling's column from today which notes what may be soccer's growing problem with flopping, but also notes the Sounders' advantage of having straight-talking advocate like Sigi Schmid in their corner.

Here's John McGrath's column on what he sees as soccer's problem with draws. And while I think it's a great conversation starter, I don't agree with John. Draws don't represent a non-result. A draw is a result -- sometimes a fair one and sometimes, as Schmid noted, there are good draws and bad draws. The idea that MLS teams have to draw three times to get the benefit in the standings of a single win should be enough to give incentive to play for the win. The Sounders have had an odd couple of weeks in that they've played Chicago and LA -- both tie machines -- and tied each. But that shouldn't be an ongoing issue. And if the Sounders draw again this week at Dallas ... well, that will be a bad result.

In any case, here's your chance to talk back to the columnists.

And oh yes, one other matter worthy of comment. As you may have noticed at the bottom of my story today, Sigi Schmid did not commit yesterday to restoring Fredy Montero to the starting 11. My guess is that it's simply Schmid's admitted aversion to tipping his hand regarding lineups ... but ... might it be something else. Is there really any chance -- any team benefit -- to keeping the fowards and midfield intact this week, while being forced to make a change in the back due to Riley's unavailbility?