The future of the Carolina RailHawks — if they will still be called that in the future — took a massive hit Friday when the United States Soccer Federation announced it withdrew its provisional sanctioning of the North American Soccer League.

The USSF provisionally sanctioned NASL as a Division 2 league in November, but developments have changed the facts of the original NASL proposal — none bigger than the RailHawks’ pending sale to Traffic Sports USA — and kept NASL from meeting all the new USSF requirements for second-division status.

Traffic Sports now funds half of the eight NASL members — Carolina, Miami FC, NSC Minnesota Stars and Atlanta Silverbacks. Traffic Sports owns and operates Miami FC and it is still unclear how much of the Carolina franchise it would own.

New USSF guidelines for D2 soccer leagues state: “No owner may exercise control over more than one club in such a way that the integrity of any game or competition would be jeopardized.

“If it is necessary for the viability of the league for an owner to own more than one team, the league and the owner must present the Federation with a plan how such owner will relinquish ownership of all but one team as soon as possible.”

Despite the setback, NASL said in a press release that the league would re-submit its bid for sanctioning as a Division 2 league, the designation right below Major League Soccer. The USSF will vote on that application on Feb. 11 or 12.

“The USSF and the soccer community have realized that it’s time once and for all to launch a new second division with higher standards which finally ensure the stability, growth and prosperity of second division soccer in North America,” NASL CEO Aaron Davidson said in a statement.

“We are prepared to respond to the USSF’s concerns and look forward to delivering on our commitments to our teams and fans to re-launch second division as the NASL in 2011.”

NASL could theoretically apply as a third-division league, though one is already in place with USL Pro.

In the bottom of the press release, NASL listed its members.

Noticeably absent was the RailHawks name even while other teams (Atlanta Silverbacks, Puerto Rico Islanders, Montreal Impact) were listed with their respective nicknames.

Instead, the release only said “Carolina.”

Brian Wellman, when questioned last week about a rumor that the RailHawks name would not be used in 2011 after the team’s sale to Traffic, said that the RailHawks would still be used.

If NASL’s re-submitted application is not approved, the league members will be faced with only a handful of choices: play in an unsanctioned league, join USL Pro, go dark for 2011 or fold altogether.