Orlando City SC Owner/Investor Flavio Augusto da Silva stopped by the front offices in Winter Park, Fla., Monday afternoon, wrapping up an exciting few days of meetings that continued to move the franchise toward Major League Soccer (MLS). Press around Central Florida came to interview the Lions owner, with the Rio de Janeiro native giving valuable insight on where the club is in bringing MLS to Orlando.

“We had two options after the (Florida) state bill fell through,” said Da Silva in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel. “The first option was to wait another year, see if another bill goes through- but we would not be able to start playing in 2015. The second option, the one that I like and chose, was starting a plan B. That plan will help finance a new stadium.”

While the plan on how exactly the stadium will be financed is currently still in discussion, Da Silva was optimistic about once that part of the plan is completed- there will be only a few more steps remaining to bring a MLS franchise to Orlando.

“We feel confident that once we figure out the finances everything will into place,” Da Silva added.

Da Silva, President Phil Rawlins and other team representatives met with MLS in New York on Friday. The team has had continual dialogue with the league for the past two years, with Friday’s meeting being the first time for the Brazilian owner in-person.

The group then travelled back to Orlando following the New York visit, meeting with local city and county officials this morning on the state of MLS in Central Florida.

“We had good and productive meetings,” said Rawlins in an interview with WFTV Channel 9. “We’re sticking to our timeline of 2015 here in Orlando and absolutely believe Orlando can support a second major-league franchise.“

Photo: Orlando Sentinel