Inter Miami, the soccer team owned by David Beckham, has been discovered by Major League Soccer (MLS) to have breached budget regulations in their signing of French midfielder Blaise Matuidi. MLS has indicated that the findings of the investigation and any ensuing penalties will be disclosed shortly.
In MLS, there are stringent guidelines concerning “designated players,” who are high-value acquisitions limited to three per team. By designating a player as such, their wages do not count towards the team’s salary cap.
During the acquisition of Matuidi, Inter Miami claimed to have utilized targeted allocation money (TAM). However, MLS determined that the funds expended by Inter Miami surpassed the permissible TAM limit, necessitating Matuidi to be categorized as a designated player.
This ruling resulted in Inter Miami exceeding the designated player limit, as Gonzalo Higuain, Rodolfo Pizarro, and Matias Pellegrini were already designated players. In order to comply with MLS regulations, Inter Miami terminated Pellegrini’s contract and loaned him to Fort Lauderdale, a USL League One team, the third tier of US soccer. Pellegrini will be ineligible to play for Miami for the remainder of the season.
