MLS Commissioner Blames Players Union for Low Superliga Bonuses

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber has lashed out at the MLS Players Association over player bonuses for Superliga.

MLSPA revealed over the weekend that if an MLS club wins Superliga, its players will receive only $150,000 of the made-for-TV competition's million-dollar prize, which amounts to $5,300 per player, while Mexican players would split the entire prize if their club wins. Garber told the MLSPA yesterday that its pants were on fire:

"According to the president of Pachuca, their players did not get $1 million dollars; they got $300,000. There's bad information to begin with. So it would be in everybody's best interest if the facts were promoted instead of rumors."

Garber then added that MLS bonuses for non-league competitions are purely voluntary -- how gracious of them -- and that the league agreed to those terms with the union. He also admitted that MLS blocked D.C. United and the Houston Dynamo from offering their players a 50% cut of the Superliga prize. When Houston players filed a grievance, Garber showed them the collective bargaining agreement and told them to take it up with the union that negotiated it.

A response like that is sure to bite Garber in the butt later. The current CBA expires after the 2009 season. We might see some real fireworks over the next one.