With the debut of the FIFA Club World Cup just weeks away, one of the participating clubs is taking a stand. The players of Seattle Sounders FC, one of three MLS teams representing North America in the tournament, is calling for their piece of the Club World Cup prize money.
Ahead of Sunday’s home game against Minnesota United, the Sounders wore t-shirts during warm-ups reading “Club World Cash Grab,” over a picture of the cartoon man from the game “Monopoly.” The Monopoly man, with a top hat that reads “MLS,” held a bag of money labeled “FIFA.” The back of the shirt says “Fair Share Now.”
Soon afterwards, the MLS Players Association (MLSPA) put out a statement supporting the Sounders players’ demands.
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“The MLSPA and all MLS players stand united with the Seattle Sounders players who tonight demanded a fair share of the FIFA Club World Cup prize money,” the organization wrote in the statement.
The MLSPA noted one of the biggest controversies of the tournament, which is the the added workload for participating clubs.
“In order to seize this additional calendar territory, FIFA had to commit historic amounts of prize money to secure club and player participation,” the association continued. “As a result, MLS will receive an unprecedented financial windfall. Despite this windfall, the league has refused to allocate a fair percentage of those funds to the players themselves.”
The MLSPA added that players have “privately and respectfully” tried to negotiate terms for bonuses with the league, but that the league has not been receptive to their demands.
“It is the players who make the game possible. It is the players who are lifting MLS up on the global stage. They expect to be treated fairly and with respect,” the statement concludes.
Along with the Sounders, who made the tournament as a result of winning the CONCACAF Champions League title in 2022, MLS will also be represented by Inter Miami FC, the 2024 MLS Shield winners, and LAFC, who won a play-off game with Club América on Saturday. Seattle’s Lumen Field is also one of 12 United States locations that will be hosting the tournament, along with Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
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While going up against European heavyweights like Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, PSG, Inter Milan and more, the three MLS teams are not expected to make it past the group stage of the tournament.
But regardless of their final result, MLS is set to make significant money from having teams take part: FIFA has promised $9.55 million (USD) in prize money to each North American club just for participating, with the participation money on a sliding scale. Additionally, clubs can win $2 million for each win in the group stage, $1 million per group stage draw, and even more money in the knockout round.
FIFA’s massive payouts are connected to the organization’s commitment to making as appealing of a product as possible, with a lot of money already on the line. In addition to the prize money — with a European winner able to earn more than 100 million throughout the tournament — FIFA has also regulations requiring all participating to clubs to field teams at full strength. The tournament will be broadcast by DAZN, which, after tepid responses from other networks, agreed to cover the event with a deal worth around $1 billion.
Inter Miami will open the Club World Cup on June 14 in Miami, against Egyptian club Al Ahly. The next day, the Sounders will play their first group stage match against Brazilian club Botafogo, at home; LAFC will play the day after, against Chelsea.
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