For a rule violation in the course of the transfer of the French soccer world champion Blaise Matuidi, the Inter Miami club, led by a group of investors around the former English national soccer player David Beckham, has been fined two million dollars (1.64 million euros). In addition to the Major League Soccer (MLS) club fine, managing owner Jorge Mas was also fined $ 250,000. In addition, sports director Paul McDonough was suspended until the end of the 2022 season.
The MLS punished misconduct by the Florida club, which had paid more than allowed for Matuidi’s move. The 34-year-old moved from Juventus Turin to Inter Miami and club boss Beckham in August 2020, with whom he had played at Paris Saint-Germain.
Due to the size of the salary, Matuidi fell as the fourth player of the club under the category of so-called designated players. However, only three of these categories are allowed per team. In the MLS, designated players do not fall under the salary cap that otherwise applies to the teams.
“Admit to having broken the rules”
It is the toughest fine ever imposed in the MLS. Jorge Mas said: “As a club we admit that we have broken the rules. But we worked closely with the league to solve the problems and made significant changes to our structure. “
The focus was on the squad positions of Matuidi and those of Andrés Reyes, who were signed. Leandro González Pirez, Jorge Nicolás Figal and Julián Carranza reported too low salaries. However, the players were not the subject of the league’s investigations. Their contracts also continue to exist in full.
