MLS clubs to seek training compensation, solidarity payments

Major League Soccer clubs will now seek training compensation and solidarity payments when academy players are signed by other teams outside of the United States and Canada.

Training compensation applies to academy players who have been offered an MLS contract with their club but have chosen to sign their first professional contract with a foreign team, the league said. Such compensation is covered by FIFA regulations for player transfers.

Solidarity payments apply to academy-developed players who are transferred for a fee between two teams from different international federations.

The move toward training compensation and solidary payments comes as the league’s teams have increased their investment in player development. Last year, clubs collectively spent a record of more than $75 million on their academies, and the additional funds offer the potential to increase that investment.

The MLS Players Association said the move is an attempt to force young players to sign with MLS by limiting opportunities elsewhere.

“It is an effort by the league to inhibit player choice, does nothing to address the development of youth soccer, and makes plain MLS’ selective application of international rules to suit its own agenda,” the union said in a statement.

The training compensation policy would impact future deals like the one made for midfielder Weston McKennie. It would have meant that FC Dallas could seek compensation for its role in developing McKennie, who did not sign a homegrown contract and instead opted for a deal with German club Schalke 04 in 2016.

Solidarity payments, meanwhile, are at the heart of a claim by Crossfire Premier, a Redmond, Washington-based youth club which is seeking a percentage of the transfer fee between the Seattle Sounders and Tottenham Hotspur when DeAndre Yedlin went overseas to play in 2014. FIFA is currently considering the case.

Commissioner Don Garber addressed the issue at last year’s MLS Cup championship game.

“Our view on this whole area is very, very different than it was two, three, four or five years ago. The product that we’re developing has become some of the more important assets, and we need to start finding ways of protecting or finding some ways to get compensated if we can’t protect them or can’t sign them,” Garber said.

Thursday’s move by MLS could possibly pave the way for other prominent U.S. development clubs to seek compensation, for example Pennsylvania Classics’ role in the early training of Christian Pulisic, currently playing for Chelsea.

The MLS established its academy program in 2007. Academy players and their parents will be advised of the new policy in coming days and teams will hold informational sessions.