MOTHERWELL MAY NOT GET ANY PAYMENT FOR CADDEN
MOTHERWELL chief executive Alan Burrows is worried that the Steelmen might not receive the £200,000 they are due from Chris Cadden’s summer switch to Columbus Crew for another three years.
The 22-year-old had spent 10 years at Fir Park, making 129 first-team appearances. He played in Scottish Cup and League Cup finals during that time, winning a dozen Scotland Under-21 caps and playing for the senior side against Mexico and Peru last year.
He joined MLS side Columbus Crew in June but was immediately loaned to Oxford United for this season.
The English League One club had wanted to sign him on a pre-contract deal prior to his Atlantic crossing but baulked at the £320,000 cross-border development fee they would have been forced to pay.
Cadden (below) has featured regularly for them as a wing-back while Motherwell have yet to be recompensed.
There had been no official agreement with the MLS compelling them to recognise development fees for young players from abroad. However, they agreed in April to respect FIFA’s training and solidarity system, which guarantees compensation fees for clubs which nurture their own talent.
However, Motherwell are getting nowhere with them and are now preparing to take Cadden’s case to FIFA.
‘We’re still in discussions with MLS, who handle these negotiations,’ said Burrows.
‘In America, the MLS — not the clubs — own the players’ contracts. There have been a few offers from them so far but not one we could accept.
‘The SFA have offered us support with a watching brief but FIFA insist both parties give each other a fair chance to resolve disputes prior to them getting involved in arbitration.
‘I would say we’re coming to the end of that stage now. The talks with MLS have been amicable but we’re looking for a significant sum for a player we took on as a boy and turned into a full international player.
‘FIFA are trying to speed up the process for dealing with these things but their wheels move slowly. I know of a similar appeal involving two British clubs which has been in the system for three years now.
‘Put it this way, it wouldn’t surprise me if the compensation fee for Chris won’t be included in our accounts for 2019/20 and they won’t be published until December of next year.’