On Tuesday, The Athletic published a write-up of a brief interview with NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman where she disclosed how the existence of Angel City’s “side letters” were initially discovered. According to the article, “one of [ACFC’s] former players signed with another team and brought up the existence of a supplementary agreement”, presumably with the new team. While The Athletic article does not have much in the way of new details, it does have some illuminating quotes from Berman.
Previously: Angel City FC fined $200,000 and docked 3 points for violating salary cap and other league rules
Regarding the “annual investigations and audits of player spending across clubs” mentioned in last week’s press release, Berman added that the league is “now going to proactively investigate and audit clubs on a random basis”. According to the article, in the past “the league routinely ask[ed] teams about their salary-cap compliance”, which, although not specified in the article, appears to be a reference to a requirement that multiple representatives from each team, including the “President”, “General Manager”, and “Head Coach” complete an annual “NWSL Team Player Compensation Compliance Affidavit”.*
In the interview, Berman reiterated that all player agreements must be disclosed to the league: “We have very clear rules… Any agreements that are not disclosed are by definition a violation of our rules.”*
Continue reading “NWSL: Angel City salary cap investigation began after former ACFC player discussed supplemental agreement with their new club”
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