DAVID BECKHAM’S Inter Miami were hit with a £1.4MILLION fine by MLS bosses last night for a series of financial irregularities.
Following a lengthy investigation into a number of player contracts, Becks’ transfer fund was also slashed for the next two years.
Boss Phil Neville was left devastated at the substantial hit to his ‘targeted allocation money’ meaning his transfer plans have been destroyed by £2m in signings for the next two years.
Former sporting director Paul McDonough, who was sacked at the end of last season, was also banned for two years to compound a serious mess for Becks to deal with.
The investigation into the signing of Blaise Matuidi from Juventus last summer also discovered multiple players were earning top wages despite strict MLS rules stating only three Designated Players are allowed to pocket the most.
It’s a massive blow to Beckham and Neville with both furious at the mess left by former agent McDonough who had rejoined Atlanta United after getting the boot in Miami.
One source said:”It’s a nightmare.”
Major League Soccer has strict rules in place regarding spending on players, including a salary cap.
Each team can have a maximum of three Designated Players, who do not apply to the limit on each star’s wages.
When 2018 World Cup winner Matuidi, 34, arrived from Juventus last August, he was surprisingly named as a ‘targeted allocation money player’, meaning that he couldn’t be paid more than £1.14m for last season.
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He was made a Designated Player for the 2021 campaign, but MLS have been investigating his arrival last year – and whether he was paid too much.
An official statement read: “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.”
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Inter Miami issued a statement acknowledging the club violated league rules in its first season.
It read: “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.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
