Unpaid salaries, strikes threatened in 2013, two recent MLS transfers literally keeping the lights on at Vida and Victoria. Some players going to practice without getting breakfast. Bad news for the Honduran league, but what an opportunity for MLS here. Marathon is the next team which could be in trouble... http://mx.noticias.yahoo.com/jugado...uelgas-salarios-atrasados-173655917--spt.html Wilmer Crisanto's transfer to the Sounders is said to be the only way the second best coach in the country is going to get his paycheck.
These types of problems don't solely happen in CONCACAF. Even some of the big UEFA teams occasionally have trouble with salary payments.
The line from Arnold Peralta (now of TFC) is pretty telling: I know if I go, then my teammates are going to receive their salaries.
A happy story, but timely. Not everyone has a knight in shining armor named Carlos Slim. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/nov/29/real-oviedo-spain-premier-league
That really sucks for them... on the other hand MLS needs to take advantage of this as much as possible.
It is an ugly head . . . but it happens in every federation not just ours. Ask guys in Greece, Turkey, etc etc. That being said, I am not above pilfering their talent.
Don't forget a country as big as Spain. From what I understand the exodus is gonna increase rapidly there.
True and I didn't mean to imply it doesn't, it just seems like so many of our brother federations have had to deal with this over here.
I doubt it. Unlike most other countries, the lifelines in Spain are pretty vast. The lower table clubs have had to put up with low cash reserves since long before the economic crisis. Just being in the same league as Real Madrid and Barca gives you a decent amount of clout.
Well, ideally, one of the watermarks of the strength in MLS is when significant numbers of players from smaller markets are fighting to get into our ranks. If we can become the league for all top regional players (who aren't Mexican) to aim for, that certainly is a good sign.
Marathon threatens to go on strike because of unpaid wages. http://translate.googleusercontent....kJrhg4roiA7HV34BFsX74iCQHcncjIEA#.UOO42Xy9KSM
I read stories that Deportivo La Coruna (sp?) didn't pay their players for 3 months when they were still in La Liga. JDG from TFC was saying it was quite common in Spain's top flight.
And according to Televicentro commentator Salvador Nasralla (the one who threatened Chiquidracula after the Honduras-Costa Rica game in the last Hex), 40 percent of matches in the Honduran league are money-losers, while no fewer than seven teams are behind on paying salaries.
Well competition is Mexican D2, Many teams in Liga de Ascenso have been signing Central American players for a long time (usually cheaper than South American players). Being a D1 league may give MLS more pull over a D2 League, then again some D2 clubs in Mexico pay very well, even when some others have trouble playing like Indios FC a few years ago.
Not just cheap...maybe even free, at least as far as transfer fees go. Under the FIFA regulations, a player can unilaterally cancel his contract if the club doesn't pay his salary for long enough. How long is "long enough"? The official FIFA interpretation says that "a few weeks" is not long enough, but "three months" is. (source, see p. 39). In other words...if it's true that Marathon's players hadn't been paid two months of wages on December 26, and those wages still haven't been paid... Then any player on Marathon can, if he wants to, simply inform Marathon that he is cancelling his contract with them for just cause and become a free agent. He can sign with an MLS club right now, with no transfer fee due to Marathon. Players might not want to do that based on a number of factors (including the possibility that Marathon would hold a grudge if they wanted to come back to play in Honduras). And it's not clear that a player could negotiate with MLS before breaking their Marathon contract, so it could be risky for the player. But it's still a possibility.
Look at what happened to Martin Rivero. He was in the same situation (hasn't been paid in a while by Rosario Central), negotiated a new contract with the Rapids, signed to the point that the Rapids President announced his signing on Twitter, then Rosario Central stepped in and objected to the signing and he got caught in limbo for a couple of weeks. Eventually the "signing" became a loan from Rosario Central and even after that Rosario Central dragged its feet on the International Transfer Certificate to the point that 3 games into the MLS season the USSF still had not received it, so FIFA stepped in and essentially issued a new Certificate to the USSF to clear Rivero to play for the Rapids. Now Rivero had the added complication of 3rd party ownership in Uruguay that I think stepped in and forced Rosario Central to act when they realized that their asset was going to walk and end up in MLS with no strings attached, but things like this are never simple. Any move MLS makes for a quality player on a free is going to be a fight regardless of their official contract status under FIFA rules.
As I stated in another thread: Seems to be only Victoria and Vida, and to a lesser extent Marathon, who just welcomed the arrival of El Salvadorian international Lester Blanco... Wilmer Crisanto is well on his way to Seattle, Jose Velasquez seems to be open to many MLS teams and some European teams. Arnold Peralta is a TFC player, and Orlin Peralta is already negotiating with Polish side, Wisla Krakovia. Other than those four, I don't see any immediate viable players worth purchasing. Maybe Felix Crisanto and Victor Ortiz who were rumored to leave for bigger Honduran teams, the latter to Alajuelense of Costa Rica.