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SOCCER REPORT
Players Union Wants Contract
By JACK BELL
Published: December 21, 2004
It is unlikely that Bruce Arena, the United States men's national team
coach, will hold an open tryout, but it is possible that the team he
takes to Trinidad and Tobago for a World Cup qualifying match on Feb. 9
will not include his most experienced international players, those who
are members of the players union.
The union, which has been without a contract since January 2003, and
the United States Soccer Federation, the sport's nonprofit national
governing body, which is sitting on a $30 million surplus, are in a
battle over how national team players should be paid. All of the senior
national team players are under contract to professional teams. They
are paid separately when they play for the national team.
Bad relations between players and the federation are nothing new. In
1996, the federation sent a nonunion team to Peru for a game.
Negotiations took place before the World Cup in France in 1998, when
the United States lost all three of its games.
The women's national team is also without a contract (that is another
story), and its members have long complained about unequal treatment by
the federation.
Mark Levinstein, a lawyer who has been acting executive director of the
union for nine years, said in a telephone interview Sunday that
negotiations were not going well. Those negotiations included a session
between federation officials and the players in Washington before the
team's World Cup qualifying match against Panama in October and a
meeting on Dec. 13.
"The federation does not respect its own players; they see the players
as something they have to put up with," Levinstein said. "They simply
don't want them to have a union. In their latest proposal, they have
even pulled the two years retroactive off the table."
The players were notified of a national team training camp that was to
be held this month, but they declined to attend. Unless an agreement is
quickly reached, few players are expected to attend a camp set to begin
Jan. 3 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. "Because of the
actions of the P.A., the team is on strike," Jim Moorhouse, a spokesman
for U.S. Soccer, said in an e-mail message, referring to the players
association.
The federation then canceled two exhibition matches, against South
Korea and Mexico, which had been scheduled for late January but not
announced.
"On Dec. 13 we reaffirmed our offer and asked for a more modest
proposal." Moorhouse added. "The union walked out of the meeting after
less than 30 minutes."
In a letter sent to the players union on Dec. 8, the federation's chief
negotiator, Russ Sauer, said: "If no collective bargaining is reached
by Feb. 1, 2005, the U.S.S.F. will pursue other options for the Feb. 9
World Cup qualifier. U.S.S.F. is entitled to use replacement players or
other teams as it may elect."
WORLD CUP The United States has qualified for every World Cup since
1990 (it was the host in 1994) and advanced to the quarterfinals in
2002 in South Korea, its best showing since 1930. The federation was
paid $1 million for each game the national team played in the
tournament, a total of $6 million. The 25 players on the team each
earned $250,000, according to the federation.
The United States team has advanced to the final round of regional
qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The top three teams in
the six-nation group advance, with a fourth playing off against a team
from Asia for another berth. After the match in Trinidad, the United
States is scheduled to play March 23 in Mexico and March 30 against
Guatemala in Birmingham, Ala.
NUMBERS GAME As is often the case in labor-management disputes in
sports (including the current lockout of players by the National Hockey
League), the numbers are difficult to pin down. Moorhouse said the
federation's most recent offer was for a 38 percent increase in
compensation to the players, and he asserted that the players union was
seeking a 122 percent increase. The union's Levinstein said those
numbers were not correct because it was difficult to know, exactly, how
the percentages were being calculated (if they included gate receipts,
sponsorships, etc).
He said that the players had been receiving from $2,000 to $6,000 a
game for victories over Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica; and from $2,000
to $5,550 for other games, but that they had received only 7 percent of
the revenue generated by the national team. Certain star players
receive bonuses beyond the per-match fee, often from equipment
sponsors, although Levinstein maintained that "all players get paid the
same."
"The fans will say that the players are overpaid and that they should
be proud to wear the jersey of the United States, and that is what the
federation is counting on," Levinstein said. "They're treating our
players like baseball players were treated in 1960. In the N.H.L., Gary
Bettman wants cost certainty and a salary cap. We have a salary cap and
total cost certainty. What is different today is that the federation
can no longer go to the players and say that M.L.S. is going to go
under or that the federation is bankrupt."
SPREADING THE WEALTH In recent years, the federation has helped finance
the construction of soccer stadiums around the country, including the
Home Depot Center and the new complex in Frisco, Tex., which will be
used by F.C. Dallas 96 of M.L.S. next season. The federation will also
provide financial assistance for the establishment of a reserve league
in M.L.S. Both are examples of a growing cooperation between the top
league in the country and the federation, a relationship that the union
is uncomfortable with.
"Our player- and facility-development initiatives are about securing
the future of the game at every level," Moorhouse said. "That is our
core mission. And developing players, whether through an under-17
residency program or potential reserve league, is at the core of our
mission."
Corner Kicks
BRAZIL Santos won its second championship in three years as Robinho
returned to the lineup for the first time since November, when his
mother was kidnapped. She was released Friday after being held for 40
days.
ITALY Inter Milan ended the first half of the season without a loss in
16 matches in Serie A. But Inter is in fourth place, 15 points behind
the leader, Juventus, because it has 12 draws.
FIFA Ronaldinho of Brazil and Birgit Prinz of Germany were named the
male and female FIFA World Players of the Year yesterday in Zurich. ...
The United States remained No. 11 in the world ranking released
yesterday. Mexico moved up a spot to No. 7. Brazil, France and
Argentina held their rankings at the top.
CHINA Tony DiCicco, the former coach of the United States women's
national team, is back in China to discuss becoming the coach of its
national team. China will play host to the 2007 Women's World Cup and
the 2008 Summer Olympics.