Montgomery Officials Avoid Soccer Controversy

Montgomery County officials are avoiding a fight between the school system and the county's major recreational youth soccer group.

A county council committee approved moving ahead with bidding on a synthetic turf playing field at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac on Monday, The Washington Post reported. But the panel said it would not weigh in on a legal battle.

Montgomery Soccer is a nonprofit group with 900 teams and nearly 15,000 players. It filed a lawsuit against school officials in early July. The lawsuit contends the school system used "a flawed and unlawful process'' when it awarded two stadium fields to clubs that serve only the wealthiest county youth.

Brian Edwards, a spokesman for the school system, says the complaint is "completely without merit.''