The Major League Soccer has fined Inter Miami $2 million over breaches of the league rules related to the signing of Blaise Matuidi from Juventus last season.
Blaise Matuidi joined the two years old MLS club last season and was suppose to be added to the club’s designated player roster according to the regulations of the MLS. However, he was not added and that contravened team roster designation rules in the American soccer league.
The reason Inter Miami gave for not adding Matuidi to the club’s designated player roster was that the club signed him using targeted allocation funds. But MLS refused to buy into the club’s excuse.
Besides not adding Matuidi on the designated player roaster which is for the marquee signings a club made, Inter Miami were also fined for not disclosing agreements that led to the under-reporting of salaries for three other players – Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Nicolas Figal, and Julian Carranza.
Hence, the managing owner of the club, Jorge Mas was fined 250,000 dollars because it was his responsibility to ensure that Inter Miami follow the rules in the league.
Also, Inter Miami would have to spend 2,271,250 dollars less in their allocation dollars (budget) during the 2022 and 2023 soccer seasons.
The MLS reached these decisions after months of investigation of Inter Miami’s 2020 roster. After the investigation, the football league confirmed that the four owners of the club – Marcelo Claure, Masayoshi Son, Jose Mas, and David Beckham were not directly involved in the breach of the regulations.
Based on the new development, Inter Miami would have to send Matias Pellegrini, one of the three members occupying a slot in the club’s designated player roaster would have to be sent on loan to Fort Lauderdale CF to make room for Matuidi. This is so because Inter Milan had already gone beyond the three marquee signings threshold.
Hence, for the remaining part of the 2021 season, Matuidi would join Gonzalo Higuain and Rodolfo Pizarro in Inter Miami designated players roaster.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber said: “The integrity of our rules is sacrosanct, and it is a fundamental principle of our league that our clubs are responsible for adhering to all league regulations.
“Our rules will not be compromised. These sanctions reflect the severity of Inter Miami’s violations, should encourage complete cooperation by all parties in future investigations and will serve as a deterrent for clubs from violating roster rules.”
While one of the owners of Inter Miami, Jose Mas said: “Inter Miami CF acknowledges that the Club violated Major League Soccer’s roster rules in our first season,” Mas said in a statement.
“We have worked closely with MLS to address these issues and have made significant changes in our management structure. Following our inaugural season, we took a deep look at our soccer operations leadership group and made decisions that not only strengthened our internal roster compliance measures but also better positioned us to build a sustainable, long-term competition strategy with the hiring of Chris Henderson as Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director in 2021.
“Inter Miami is an ambitious Club with big aspirations. We believe our fanbase, market, and ownership group propels us to be one of North America’s most-followed fútbol teams in the world. We are committed to supporting our team and building a roster we are proud of.”
Statement From Managing Owner Jorge Mas in Response to MLS’ Sanctions.https://t.co/kOENAEa2G6
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) May 28, 2021
