Seattle Sounders protest Club World Cup bonus structure as Sounders wore shirts reading ‘Club World Ca$h Grab’.
In protest of the way bonuses from playing in the Club World Cup are being given out, the Seattle Sounders wore shirts that read “Club World Ca$h Grab” during their Sunday warm-up versus Minnesota United.
The MLS Players Association then issued a statement expressing support with the Sounders players, who “demanded a fair share of Fifa Club World Cup prize money,” according to the statement.
“Fifa’s new tournament piles on to players’ ever-increasing workload without regard to their physical well-being,” the statement reads, before pointing out that Fifa will pay MLS teams large amounts (about $9.5m) to participate in the tournament. “Despite this windfall, the league has refused to allocate a fair percentage of those funds to the players themselves.”
Clubs receive additional money depending on their success in the games, which comes from a $475 million Fifa prize pool, on top of the $9.5 million they receive for entering the competition. However, players are only allowed to get 50% of incentives from outside tournaments, with a $1 million cap for the entire squad, according to the current collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players.
That effectively results in a 90/10 prize money split at first, and if MLS teams progress in the competition, the ratio might get worse.
The players have attempted to meet with MLS to modify the agreement, but the league has “failed to bring forward a reasonable proposal,” according to the MLSPA’s statement.
Three Major League Soccer teams will compete in the Club World Cup: Los Angeles FC, who advanced in a one-game playoff, the Sounders, and Inter Miami, who were selected by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.