Solidarity Payments and Training Compensation can change the game in the US
American Exceptionalism or plain stupidity has prevented it from becoming mainstream in the United States
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While much of the energy of reform in US Soccer revolves around Promotion and Relegation, other serious changes need to be made in the game to allow the US to be competitive in the overall men’s landscape both from a player development and national team competitiveness standpoint. In addition, the US has a fail rate for professional clubs that’s unmatched anywhere in the world - a truly dubious distinction.
One area where significant change has to be made is in the front of Solidarity Payments and Training Compensation.
Solidarity Payments and Training Compensation are FIFA mandated under Statutes 19 and 20 of the FIFA laws of the game that are in place to incentivize youth academies to develop professional players. The new rules were begun in 2003 and currently all of the major European clubs and leagues participate in the system.
Somehow, though the United States Soccer Federation has claimed it violates antitrust laws, but Major League Soccer which was forced to pay solidarity payments to a club in Edmonton for the development of Alphonso Davies (when he was sold onward to Bayern) has changed its policy in 2019 on this matter- somewhat. US-based MLS clubs now collect solidarity payments but will not pay them to youth clubs.
Despite embracing the receiving of compensation, MLS does not pay solidarity fees or training compensation to domestic US clubs who develop players that pass through MLS clubs or academies before moving to Europe.
In the summer of 2019, a decision from the FIFA Dispute Resolution Committee regarding the case of Crossfire Premier, a Seattle-area youth club who developed DeAndre Yedlin created more ambiguity on the issue. Originally thought to be a defeat for proponents of solidarity payments and training compensation in American soccer, the ruling actually has opened the door for further action on the compensation front and could also lead to a major shift in infrastructure around US Soccer. In 2021, NISA, a sanctioned third division in US Soccer said it would pay solidarity payments in certain instances to youth and adult-amateur clubs.
Yedlin’s transfer from MLS’ Seattle Sounders to Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League in 2014 could have netted Crossfire which developed Yedlin up to $100,000. Instead the payment was not made and MLS and the Sounders collected the entire transfer fee from Spurs.
The FIFA committee ruled at the time: “The Chamber was of the opinion that the Respondent (Tottenham Hotspur) relied on the representations made by the above-mentioned bodies (US Soccer & MLS) and could assume therefore, in good faith, that it would not be obliged to pay any amount on top of the full transfer fee.”
US Soccer and MLS had previously indicated that solidarity payments and training compensation violate US laws regarding child labor as well as antitrust regulations. This has been frequently repeated by those in US Soccer through the years, and player agents as well.
In the specific case of Yedlin he spent as much time in an independent academy (Crossfire) as he did in an MLS academy with the Sounders. The situation was similar with Davies but because the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) complies with FIFA statutes governing these payments, MLS had to pay Davies former youth club in Edmonton, unlike the Yedlin situation.
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