Major League Soccer has initiated a review following a tampering allegation against Inter Miami concerning the signing of Brazilian midfielder Casemiro.
“The league is in the process of gathering all pertinent information and will withhold further comments until the review is concluded,” MLS stated.
According to sources, the LA Galaxy filed a tampering complaint against Inter Miami for contacting Casemiro before obtaining the player’s Discovery Priority.
Although Inter Miami and the Galaxy have now come to an agreement regarding the Discovery Priority for Casemiro, the league will still proceed with its investigation.
“While Inter Miami CF and the LA Galaxy have reached a settlement for the Discovery Priority involved in signing Casemiro, details will be disclosed upon the completion of the tampering inquiry,” MLS said in their statement.
According to MLS regulations, teams can place up to five players on their Discovery List. By doing so, they secure exclusive rights to initiate contract negotiations without competition from other MLS teams. The LA Galaxy holds the discovery priority for Casemiro, necessitating that Inter Miami obtain the player’s rights from this Western Conference team.
“If a club wishes to sign a player who is on another club’s Discovery List that has a higher Discovery priority, it can offer that club $50,000 in General Allocation Money in exchange for the right to sign the player,” league rules state.
– Former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro joins Inter Miami
– 10 transfer storylines you may have missed during the World Cup
The club that has a player on its Discovery List will then have five days (or three days during the Secondary Transfer Window) to either (i) accept the General Allocation Money and relinquish the right to sign the player or (ii) make the player a genuine, reasonable offer.
After settling with the Galaxy, Inter Miami successfully signed Casemiro to a contract that runs through the end of the 2027 MLS season, with an option to extend until June 2029.
“I want to clarify my position on this matter,” Casemiro stated on Wednesday. “I had conversations with the Galaxy some time ago and made it clear that my desire was to join Miami, a city I love. My family and I are here whenever we get time off. We know this city well. I told the Galaxy my intentions firmly, and that I wanted to play for Inter Miami because of its project, the excitement, and, of course, to join the best player of all time.
“I truly appreciate the efforts of Inter Miami to make this happen. This has always been the only MLS team I wanted to play for.”