Yedlin's youth club complains to FIFA about MLS

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by Placid Casual, Jun 29, 2015.

  1. Placid Casual

    Placid Casual Member+

    Apr 2, 2004
    Bentley's Roof
    cpwilson80 repped this.
  2. PhillyMLS

    PhillyMLS Member+

    Oct 24, 2000
    SE PA
    I don't know if the legally have a leg to stand on. What they are asking for is to receive money for an individual that paid them money to be part of a team. I'm just not sure US law would actually allow someone to be owed money in such a situation. And FIFA has no jurisdiction here when it comes to actually enforcing something if it is not legal according to US law. I could be wrong about that, but I think it is an uphill battle they are going to have trouble winning.
     
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  3. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I would like to see this resolved, but I do think most of the pay-to-play clubs will end up out in the cold. Reimburse the parents for what they paid, then you can keep anything left over.

    But, if the number of no pay academies increases (or they put their top players on scholarships), then it's an issue that needs to be addressed. If only MLS academies are no charge, there won't be much reason to change the status quo.
     
  4. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think their are two different issues here.. One is whether solidarity payments should be passed on to the youth clubs, which they should, IMHO. If we are ever going to break the pay-to-play model in this country, the solidarity payments need to be made.

    The other issue is what to do with players where their parents paid for them to play for the youth team.. I would think USSF could require that the family should be get a cut of that solidarity payment.. At least to the amount that they paid for the kid to play for that team. It seems just as wrong to me that the parents would pay for their kid to play and then have the team receive the whole solidarity payments as it is wrong that the teams don't get any of the solidarity payment.
     
  5. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I should have included this with my post, but my concern with only reimbursing the family up to what they paid is that it doesn't encourage the pay-to-play teams to become free. Either way the team is going to get paid for training the kids and they don't have to really worry themselves if they don't produce a kid that turns pro. It doesn't necessarily have to be reimbursing the parents, but maybe charge the team a fee for being pay to play so they don't get the full compensation once the parents are reimbursed?
     
  6. CANPRO

    CANPRO Member+

    Dec 23, 2002
    Doneil Henry's youth club got compensation when he moved to Europe from TFC. I hope a reporter asks MLS about that...
     
  7. PhillyMLS

    PhillyMLS Member+

    Oct 24, 2000
    SE PA
    It is almost as if Canada is a different country than the United States......
     
  8. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    *snicker* What??? Are you saying they have a different Federation setting their rules as well?? That is inconceivable!
     
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  9. CANPRO

    CANPRO Member+

    Dec 23, 2002
    You're saying MLS had nothing to do with Yedlin compensation situation? You're saying the USSF is the problem?

    MLS attempting to rely on some irrelevant case in the U.S doesn't explain why they didn't try to be equally obstructionist in Canada in an identical situation.
     
  10. footballfantatic

    Mar 27, 2008
    Ontario, California
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I absolutely agree with the bolded quote above!
     
  11. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    MLS and CSA have a rather rocky relationship. If such a payment were made, it would not surprise me that CSA required it of MLS, that MLS tried to get them to not make the rule, or to remove it if it already existed, and that CSA told MLS to bugger off.
     
  12. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It was a tricky subject to begin with, especially with pay-to-play and colleges in the mix. It's only going to get more confusing, but I hope they can come up with a system that makes sense and that helps to make the game more affordable to the players.

    Changing this now, won't end P2P because there are too many American players in the system with too few places for them to go professional (with any real sense of pay). What we can hope is that it cheapens the USSDA teams to close to $0. I expect most local clubs will be P2P.

    It might also hurt the US player pool by limiting it as a cheap place to find talent (not huge, but could be an issue with Liga MX). And we might see more of the pure "for profit" clubs -- mostly foreign owned that come over and develop talent for the fees from MLS and elsewhere (not sure it would be profitable, though).
     
  13. PhillyMLS

    PhillyMLS Member+

    Oct 24, 2000
    SE PA
    What I'm saying is that Canadian law differs from American law. I didn't want to get into depth because I honestly don't know what the relevant labor and business laws are for this situation. But I don't think that the US law would likely say that an organization that accepted money from an individual to perform a service (in this case, to play soccer and learn from said organization) can turn around and expect another organization that made this person an employee to give them any money they earn off of him. That is the crux of the problem I see here. Yedlin had no contract with Crossfire. They provided him a service that he payed for. It caused him to get better and get a better job. His employer that held his contract was approached by another organization and a buyout of that contract was arranged. Crossfire is asking for a cut of a contract buyout in essence. In the eyes of the law I don't think they can claim any of that money solely due to the fact that he was never an employee and certainly not a current employee.

    The thing to remember is that FIFA regulations are always trumped by national law. And I just don't see Crossfire having a valid claim in terms of the law and I doubt that US law allows for the things that FIFA is saying should be done in a solidarity payment. Look at it in a non-sports term. Would a prep school or college be entitled to any money that was received by Apple if Google was to buyout one of their employee's contracts? They would have just as much of a claim to developing that employee as Crossfire does of saying that they developed Yedlin. I just don't think (again, personal opinion) that US law would allow for either of those situations. Canada? Maybe. It seems like the EU does.
     
  14. CANPRO

    CANPRO Member+

    Dec 23, 2002
    That would be good news for youth clubs in Canada...
     
  15. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It sounds more and more like a for profit trade school asking for a cut of someone's salary after they get a job, which I *think* wouldn't pass muster in the US. Especially, if the student paid a fair-market rate for the training.

    But this is a little different in that it's the "school" asking money from the employer, sort of like a placement firm. And the governing body has set aside the money as part of the rules of the game. I'm not sure that US law would *prohibit* it, especially if everyone coming in knew the nature of the system.

    I can see some parallels in other fields, but not enough to really see what a court might decide in the case. Again, I hope we end up with some system that will ease P2P, at least somewhat.
     
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  16. jond

    jond Member+

    Sep 28, 2010
    Club:
    Levski Sofia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I could understand that if MLS itself didn't accept the fees for development, but it did. Those development fees due Crossfire, under FIFA regulations, are part of the transfer fee Spurs paid to MLS/Sea.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    This is an interesting angle, implying it does violate Us anti-trust laws.

    [​IMG]
    This all btw comes on the heels of the Jamaican Fed making a complaint about MLS failing to compensate for Jamaican players who've been drafted into the league. So there's implications here both inside and outside our borders. MLS doesn't just refuse to pay development fees for US youth clubs but for clubs outside the US as well.
     
  17. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    If payments are made to Yedlin's youth club, that would make Yedlin a professional at that level. Which would mean anyone playing a competitive game with Yedlin at that club would be at risk of losing their NCAA eligibility.

    The club might want to reconsider their complaint. By winning, they may very well turn off potential future players who may not want to risk whatever slim chance of getting a college scholarship they might have.

    Claiming development rights over an amateur player seems specious to me.
     
  18. POdinCowtown

    POdinCowtown Member+

    Jan 15, 2002
    Columbus
    It's clear that US law doesn't require any compensation to Crossfire. But what law would prohibit it? Crossfire has no contractual relationship with the Sounders or Tottenham. They probably didn't have one with Yedlin, or at least one that explicitly included solidarity payments. So I don't think it's a matter of contract law. But the USSF has contracts with FIFA and MLS and controls Yedlin's player registration. So why can't FIFA require the USSF to comply with its regulations? If the USSF wants to make a child labor defense, they should come out and say so, not rely on secret codicils to an anti-trust case.
     
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  19. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is a case where a little sunshine on all the provisions and dealings would probably be a good thing. Come up with a mechanism that rewards clubs who develop top talent without P2P, capture income due to MLS from foreign clubs and find a way to stay within FIFA rules and US/Canadian law.
     
  20. POdinCowtown

    POdinCowtown Member+

    Jan 15, 2002
    Columbus
    Why would Yedlin or his team mates suddenly become professionals? Wouldn't that only become the case if they were paid directly by their team?
     
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  21. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Would it? Certainly not by FIFA's definition and not the NCAA's since players under FIFA amateur contracts come into colleges on a regular basis. Obviously, once the provision comes into play, you are a professional, but that doesn't matter at that point.
     
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  22. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Jamaican players who played in college in the U.S. between playing for their Jamaican clubs and being drafted into MLS.

    Yet the Jamaican clubs are neither claiming that the colleges owe them compensation, nor that they would split the development fees for the players with the colleges.

    Once again, I'm not sure where amateur players fit into this. It's a bunch of people looking at money trying to figure out how to get a piece of the action.
     
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  23. POdinCowtown

    POdinCowtown Member+

    Jan 15, 2002
    Columbus
    Certainly, everyone who might be paid has their hand out. That doesn't mean their claims are invalid.
     
  24. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Because that's an NCAA definition. If you play on a team with paid players, you lose eligibility. In recent years (after Yedlin turned pro) that has been modified for some sports, but I don't think soccer is one of them.

    And being a professional in the NCAA doesn't mean that you yourself get paid. I would think the payments for Yedlin's services would definitely put them at risk.
     
  25. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Or complete. And there is a huge potential for unintended consequences here that could make things much worse than a short term payout.
     

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