MLS - Not actually in violation of FIFA Regulations
2010-01-05 00:01:00
I've been wanting to comment on this for a few days, but it seems especially apt in light of the new FIFPro statement that got released today:"The league shutting down MLS in February would do real damage to the development of the game in the United States and to our efforts to prepare for South Africa," US leading scorer Landon Donovan said. "It is difficult to understand why the owners would take this course, when all we are asking for are the same rights enjoyed by other players around the world, not just in the biggest leagues, but in leagues of all sizes."
The reasons that FIFPro says that MLS is violation of FIFIA's Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (also outlined in the original press release in November) are as follows:
1) There are players without guaranteed contracts
2) Contracts are routinely terminated by the league during their term
3) MLS acts as a cartel
4) There is no freedom of movement for any MLS player
5) Virtually any player can be transferred to another club in the league without his consent
The second press release also has something about multi-year options.
All right, here's the RSTP. Find where there's a restriction on any of these things.
I'll wait.
Nothing, in fact, prohibits MLS from terminating contracts according to their terms, issuing non-guaranteed contracts, acting like a cartel (whatever that means), issuing contracts up to five years, and the only thing in there about transfers relates to the mechanics of transferring a player to a team in another association.
Beyond just making stuff up, the best argument I can find for why the RSTP applies is this piece by Kyle McCarthy. And it's not all that persuasive:
Ending a semi-guaranteed contract prior to the end of the campaign doesn't comply with [Regulation 13].
Here's Article 13:
A contract between a professional and a club may only be terminated upon expiry of the term of the contract or by mutual agreement.
McCarthy:
That practice also doesn't adhere to Article 16, which states that "a contract cannot be unilaterally terminated during the course of the season." The standard contract – usually a one-year, semi-guaranteed deal as part of a series of league-held options, though some players possess contracts with full-year guarantees for one or more seasons – isn't written to conclude in the middle of the season because that would constitute a violation of Article 18.2 (which states that contracts must extend until the end of the season). Instead, the contract simply gives MLS the right to nullify the deal without compensation prior to July 1.
Article 16 is as follows:
A contract cannot be unilaterally terminated during the course of a season.
How does releasing a player under the terms of that contract improperly terminate it? And as McCarthy himself notes, Article 1.3.b of the RSTP requires leagues to respect the collective bargaining agreement. So, if the players negotiate a standard contract in the collective bargaining agreement that allows for a non guaranteed class of player, and MLS releases the player under the terms of that contract, then as far as I can tell MLS is respecting both the letter and spirit of the RSTP, as well as the contract itself.
I think the union is totally blowing smoke on the issue of FIFA Violations, and even McCarthy ends up concluding that MLS
Over at MLS talk there's the alternate theory that MLS acts as a third party who owns the players, which could be prohibited, but the first problem is that it's not the individual MLS teams signing the contracts.
And let's say just for argument's sake that MLS is in violation of the RSTP. So are a lot of players:
In all the instances cited above, the players are under contract. but that minor obstacle is easily renegotiated. However watertight the contract may appear, all the parties concerned know that it cannot be maintained if one of the signers becomes an unwilling partner.
I'm going to guess that the MLS Players Union and FIFPro have very little to say about players who demand a transfer and refuse to see out their contracts in violation of Articles 13 and 16 of the RSTP.
Fake Sigi out.
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