Inter Miami has to pay a record fine of two million dollars, converted to 1.6 million euros, to the Major League Soccer. The club of co-owner David Beckham has broken the salary rules of the American league after attracting Blaise Matuidi. Also when Andrés Reyes, Leandro González Pirez, Nicolás Figal and Julian Carranza are paid out, it turns out that not everything happened according to the rules.
Major League Soccer clubs are allowed to attract three players according to salary rules, and may step outside the pay house. The exception was nicknamed The Beckham Rule, after the Englishman made the switch from Real Madrid to Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007, shortly after entering the rule. In the past, for example, MLS clubs have managed to bring dearly paid stars such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry, David Villa and Steven Gerrard to the United States.
The arrival of Matuidi in the summer of 2020 caused Inter Miami to go over the edge. At the club, the Mexican Rodolfo Pizarro and the Argentines Matias Pellegrini and Gonzalo Higuaín were already the designated players. As a result, Matuidi, like the rest of the team, should have earned between 500,000 euros and 1.3 million euros according to the regulations, but he got much more.
In addition to the hefty fine, the club may also spend 1.8 million euros less on salaries for the next two seasons. “The integrity of our rules is sacred,” said Don Garber on behalf of the MLS for the harsh intervention. “It is a fundamental principle of our league and the clubs are responsible for complying with all competition rules.”
The fine and the financial restrictions are a hard blow for the ambitious Inter Miami, where Kelvin Leerdam and Nick Marsman are under contract. Director Jorge Mas himself has also been fined 200,000 euros, while former technical director Paul McDonough has been suspended for a year and a half. Beckham was found to have nothing to do with the violation and will not be punished.