The Major League Soccer Players Union (MLSPU) have slammed the U.S.-Mexican club tournament known as SuperLiga ahead of this weekend's opening matches, calling the $1 million purse "misleading."
In an email published on Goal.com, the MLSPU said that prize money for winning the tournament for an MLS club isn't fairly divided among the players:
"What has not been revealed by the league is that its New York office has unilaterally set its own bonus structure for players, who will receive only a small fraction of the $1 million....If an MLS team wins SuperLiga, the players on that team won't split $1 million. Instead, they will receive only 15% of the prize money. This puts MLS players at a significant competitive disadvantage as the Mexican clubs are not operating under the same rules. Indeed, it is our understanding that the players on last year's winner Pachuca split the entire $1 million prize amongst themselves ... It's a shame that MLS doesn't pay its players -- the persons responsible for making the tournament exciting -- their fair share of the proceeds," the statement continued. "Their refusal to do so has left the players with a bitter taste in their mouths as they enter the tournament."
It remains to be seen if this "bitter taste" will translate to half-hearted play on the pitch by the MLS clubs taking part in this year's SuperLiga. It's a shame because last year's competition (and the million dollare purse) generated a real buzz.
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