MEXICO MOVE COMES AT A PRICE
Caps stand to collect $ 1.5 million transfer fee for Camilo
The framework for a sevenfigure transfer fee that will allow 2013 Major League Soccer scoring leader Camilo Sanvezzo to jump from the Vancouver Whitecaps to Mexican side Querétaro FC has reportedly been agreed upon.
It came after Caps management — new head coach Carl Robinson, president Bob Lenarduzzi and Greg Anderson, the club’s director of pro teams — flew to Mexico late last week to meet with the disgruntled player.
“It was an interesting conversation,” Robinson, who was the only one Camilo would sit down with, said on a conference call Wednesday.
Robinson, who was an assistant coach and had a good relationship with Camilo last season, said the conversation lasted for about 30 minutes, even though the Brazilian told him he “couldn’t speak much English, which I found quite funny.
“I made my point to him, where I stood,” said Robinson, who last week had called Camilo’s actions unprofessional. “There were a few words at higher decibels than others ... we agreed on certain things and disagreed on certain things.”
The deal to end the messy attempt by Camilo to skip out on his Whitecaps’ contract was first reported Wednesday morning by ESPN Desportes.
But by early evening, there had still been no official confirmation from the Whitecaps.
Lenarduzzi indicated there had been a slight hitch, with some work still needed .
Some reports have put the transfer fee at $ 1.5 million. Under MLS rules, the Caps would get two- thirds of that, with the league receiving the rest.
Camilo, a diminutive striker with a nose for the net, scored three goals in the Caps’ final regular- season game in 2013 to finish as the MLS’s Golden Boot winner and leading scorer with 22 goals.
The Caps then picked up the option on his contract in November. He made $ 247,000 in 2013. Whether there was discussion at that time about the Caps offering to reward him with a pay raise is unclear.
But Camilo and his Brazilian-based agent clearly weren’t happy and, after an initial dalliance with a club in Norway, appeared to convince Querétaro that the player was a free agent. In early January, pictures began showing up on the Mexican side’s website of Camilo in team colours and then working on the training pitch. Robinson wouldn’t specifically detail Camilo’s unhappiness with the Caps, saying only that the player told him “what he thought in his mind had been told to him. We agreed to disagree on certain aspects of it.”
Robinson said Camilo had unfortunately “put his trust and faith” in his agent.
“Was he remorseful? That’s an answer I’ll keep between him and me at the moment.”
The Caps insisted all along that they had a legally binding contract. But when it appeared there was no chance they would get Camilo to return, they began negotiating a transfer fee with help from the league, which has remained relatively silent on the issue.
While none of the parties appeared willing to take the dispute to FIFA or to court, the transfer fee is a tacit acknowledgment by Querétaro that the Caps did indeed have Camilo under contract.
Mike Jarosi, who practises sports law in Ohio and represents MLS players, said in a blogpost on Wednesday that the resolution, while allowing all parties to move on, does set a bad precedent for the league.
“While the folks at league headquarters in New York may pat themselves on the back for their problem- solving skills while simultaneously turning a small profit, they will, at the same time, be providing highprofile carte blanche to the next player who finds himself unhappy with his contract to simply flee, with reward and without repercussion.
“And when the system of contracts breaks down, everyone loses.”