Sounders players protest MLS's Club World Cup ‘cash grab', fair player payments ahead of match

New York Post

2 days ago

MLS players are not letting the fight over Club World Cup bonuses go away.
The Seattle Sounders held a player protest over the issue Sunday ahead of their match with Minnesota United, wearing shirts that read, 'World Cup Cash Grab.'
'FAIRSHARE NOW' was written across the back of the shirts.
Every member of the Sounders squad wore the shirts during warmups.
3 Cristian Roldan walks onto the field before the Seattle Sounders' match June 1.
Getty Images
The shirts were in protest to MLS players' concerns over the cut of bonuses they'll receive from their participation in the upcoming Club World Cup, set to begin later this month in the United States.
Inter Miami, the Sounders and LAFC will all represent MLS in the 32-team tournament, and FIFA announced in March that MLS teams would get $9.5 million alone just for participating.
There are also additional bonuses for teams when they win or tie, setting up the possibility for the MLS clubs in the tournament to come away with large sums of money from the Club World Cup.
3 Seattle Sounders players warm up before their match June 1.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
However, a clause in the current MLS collective bargaining agreement — Article 10.8 — limits how much players get from non-MLS tournaments, which caps it at 50 percent of the tournament prize or up to $1 million.
'The MLSPA and all MLS players stand united with the Seattle Sounders players who tonight demanded a fair share of the FIFA Club World Cup prize money. FIFA's new tournament piles on to players' ever-increasing workload without regard to their physical well-being. In order to seize this additional calendar territory, FIFA had to commit historic amount of prize money to secure club and player participation. As a result, MLS will receive an unprecedented financial windfall,' the MLS Players Association said in a statement in support of the Sounders' protest.
3 Seattle Sounders players jog onto the field for warmups before their June 1 match.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
'Despite the windfall, the league has refused to allocate a fair percentage of those funds to the players themselves. For months, the players have privately and respectfully invited the league to to discuss bonus terms, yet MLS has failed to bring forward a reasonable proposal. Instead of recognizing the players who have brought MLS to the global stage, the league — which routinely asks the PA to deviate from the CBA — is clinging to an out-of-date CBA provisions and ignoring longstanding international standards on what players typically receive from FIFA prize money in global competitions.
'It is the players who make the game possible. It is the players who are lifting MLS up on the global stage. They expect to be treated fairly and with respect.'
MLS did not have a comment when reached by The Post.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Post.
The Sounders begin the group stage of the tournament on June 15 when they face the Brazilian club Botafogo at Lumen Field in Seattle.