Brotherly Game Archive
Twellman: Union wouldn’t receive compensation for Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s rights
Even though the Philadelphia Union have his rights, the league reportedly wouldn't honor the Discovery Conflict Resolution process were Zlatan Ibrahimovic were he to come to MLS.
During halftime of today’s MLS Soccer Sunday clash between Sporting Kansas City and Orlando City SC, ESPN commentator Taylor Twellman broke Zlatan Ibrahimovic news on two fronts. Contrary to a report from ESPN FC, Zlatan would not play for the LA Galaxy if he were to sign with MLS this season, according to Twellman. Additionally, he revealed that although the Union have Zlatan on their discovery list, he is seemingly not subject to the discovery process. As a result, Twellman says, teams would be under no obligation to compensate the Union for Zlatan’s MLS rights. You can watch Twellman’s entire halftime report here.
Even though ESPN FC writer Doug McIntyre, as well as a Union spokesperson and Union Head Coach Jim Curtin, himself, have all verified that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is on the Union's discovery list, the Discovery Conflict Resolution process would reportedly not apply in his case. For clarity, here is how MLS's "Roster Rules and Regulations" defines the Discovery Conflict Resolution process (emphasis is mine):
Under normal circumstances, the Union would receive, at a minimum, $50,000 in General Allocation Money for the rights to a player on their discovery list. If they are capable of making what the league considers to be a “genuine, objectively reasonable offer” for said player, they could conceivably hold out for a larger offer, which is what happened when Didier Drogba turned down the Chicago Fire in favor of the Montreal Impact last year. But the Union won’t get the chance to cash in on the claim or negotiate with realistic suitors as the league has reportedly voided their claim.
.@thegoalkeeper no it’s more because Philly wouldn’t meet his market value thus they lose “discovery priority”
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) May 15, 2016
This, of course, blatantly contradicts the league's stated conflict resolution process. Instead of requiring another team to cough up $50,000 in exchange for the player's rights, regardless of the rightsholder's financial wherewithal, the league can seemingly declare a team's claim illegitimate if they cannot make a "genuine, objectively reasonable offer."
To be fair, that’s a reasonable way to ensure that teams cannot squat on players’ rights in hopes of a payday. But it is unfair – to the teams and to the fans – to make league rules and have no intention of abiding by them. Judging by Jim Curtin’s comments on Saturday, he had not been informed that the Union’s discovery claim was illegitimate. From ESPN FC:
Either Twellman is wrong, which (even though it's entirely possible) is unlikely given his track record with these sorts of things; or the league has allowed the Union to think that their discovery claim on Zlatan was legitimate when it really was not. Considering that the photo of the Union's discovery list was taken a month ago, that's at least how long the league has waited to inform the Union of the sudden rule change.
Garbage like this is why the league is often criticized (and rightly so) for its lack of transparency. When the Union's technical staff has to find out from Taylor Twellman that MLS has decided to invalidate their discovery claim, there's clearly something very, very wrong.
