l About MLS2009 MLS PLAYER RULES AND REGULATIONS SUMMARY
I. MLS ROSTER COMPOSITION
A Major League Soccer team's full roster is comprised of the Senior Roster and the Developmental Roster. The full roster shall exceed no more than 24 total players: 18-20 players on the Senior Roster and no more than four (4) players on the Developmental Roster. All 24 players are eligible for selection as part of the game-day squad during the regular season and playoffs.
(A) SENIOR ROSTER
Other than at specified times during preseason or through injury situations (e.g., a player added as either a disabled list replacement or a season-ending injury replacement), an MLS team shall have no more than 20 Senior Roster players at any time. The Senior Roster is comprised of the following players, who all count against a team's salary budget:
INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS
Each team is allotted eight (8) International slots, with the exception of Toronto FC who is allotted 13 International slots, five (5) of which may be used on domestic U.S. players. All International player slots are tradable, therefore a team may have more than or less than eight (8) International players on its roster.
DOMESTIC PLAYERS*
A domestic player is either a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident (green card holder) or the holder of other special status (e.g., refugee or asylum status).
* For Toronto FC, players with the legal right to work in Canada are considered domestic players (i.e., Canadian citizen, permanent resident, part of a protected class).
(B) DEVELOPMENTAL ROSTER
MLS teams shall not have more than four (4) Developmental players on their Developmental Roster at any time (unless a player is added as a disabled list replacement or season-ending injury replacement). Developmental players can be either Domestic or International and must be 25 years of age or younger during the calendar year of competition. These players do not count against a team's salary budget. They are signed to non-guaranteed contracts, and thus can be waived at any time. Teams are permitted an unlimited number of Developmental player signings during a given season to ensure all four Developmental Roster spots are occupied at any one time.
Generation adidas players and Domestic and International underclassmen form part of a team's Developmental Roster. They are acquired by MLS teams through the SuperDraft, Lottery, Discovery or waiver system (see below) if they join the League after the SuperDraft.
For 2009, if a team has more than four (4) Generation adidas players on its Developmental Roster, then the additional Generation adidas players would be grandfathered and count against a team's 20-player Senior Roster (with no budget charge).
II. METHODS OF PLAYER ACQUISITION
MLS teams may acquire players and add them to their Senior and Developmental rosters via the following 13 mechanisms:
(A) ALLOCATIONS
The allocations will be ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2008 season, taking playoff performance into account. Seattle, as an expansion team, will have the top-ranked allocation at the beginning of 2009. The rankings will be separate and distinct from the allocation amounts and will only be relevant in the event two or more teams file a request for the same player on the same day, in the case of returning U.S. National Team players, or in other cases where the League, in its discretion taking into account all the circumstances, determines that the allocation rankings shall be applied. In such cases, priority will be granted to the team with the higher allocation ranking. Once the team uses its allocation ranking to acquire a player it will drop to the bottom of the list. The ranking itself can be traded provided part of the compensation received in return is another team's ranking. A team may move up or down in the rankings, provided that at all times each team is assigned a ranking (no team can have more than one ranking and no team can be without a ranking). The rankings will reset at the end of each MLS League Season.
A club receives allocation money for (1) poor performance during the preceding MLS regular season; (2) the transfer of a player to a club outside of MLS for value; (3) roster purposes due to expansion status; and/or (4) exceptional circumstances as approved by the Competition Committee.
Each year the MLS Competition Committee determines the allocation amount to be made available to each team. Allocation money can be traded by teams. Allocation money does not count against a team's salary budget and can be used:
• To sign players new to MLS (that is, a player who did not play in MLS during the previous season).
• To re-sign an existing MLS player, with League approval.
• In connection with the exercise of an option to purchase a player's rights or the extension of a player's contact for the second year provided the player was new to MLS in the immediately prior year.
Allocation money cannot otherwise be used to buy down the salary budget number of players already under contract to the League, nor can allocation money be used to buy down the budget number of a Designated Player.
(B) DESIGNATED PLAYER
The Designated Player Rule allows the League to sign players (under the League's single entity system) whose salary will fall outside of the team salary budget and whose cost above the salary budget charge will be the financial responsibility of the club for which they play. A Designated Player's salary budget charge will be capped at $415,000 per annum in 2009, but his actual compensation is higher. Each team initially received one Designated Player slot, and clubs are allowed to trade Designated Player slots. However, no team can have more than two Designated Players. The Designated Player Rule is a three-year initiative that will conclude after the 2009 MLS season when its future will be reviewed.
* Landon Donovan is the only remaining pre-existing high-salaried (grandfathered Designated Player) in the League. He will continue to be grandfathered and will not count as a Designated Player in 2009.
(C) SUPERDRAFT
These are players drafted by teams at the annual MLS SuperDraft, which consists of four rounds. In order to be eligible to be drafted, players must be: invited to participate in that year's MLS Player Combine; Generation adidas-signed players; or college players who no longer have college eligibility and are nominated by MLS teams. The selection order is determined as follows: The first six selections are from teams that did not qualify for the previous playoffs beginning with the team with fewest regular season points (3 points per win, one point per tie). The remaining eight positions are ranked by fewest regular season points among the teams that were eliminated in the same round of the previous year's MLS Cup Playoffs. An expansion team receives the first selection in each round.
A player who was drafted by a particular team through the SuperDraft and did not sign with the League, is placed on that team's "College Protected List" until the second December 31 following the draft in question, after which the team loses the rights to the player.
(D) TRADES
Players, rights to sign players, SuperDraft picks, allocation money, allocation ranking, Designated Player slots and International player slots may all be acquired and exchanged in trades approved by the MLS League Office provided all of the necessary rules regarding roster and salary budget compliance are met and the trade is consummated during the valid trading period. The trade window opened on November 26, 2008 and will close at the 2009 trade deadline of September 15, 2009 (in conjunction with the Discovery claim and roster freeze deadline).
(E) DISCOVERY SIGNINGS
Each team has the opportunity to make six Discovery signings per season (expansion teams have 10 Discovery signings in their initial season). The last day for Discovery player signings is September 15, 2009 - coinciding with the roster freeze date and trade deadline. The six Discovery signings can be used to fill senior roster spots only. If multiple teams claim the same player using a Discovery, the team that filed the claim first will have first rights to the player. Discovery claims expire following each season. If the League and player are unable to reach an agreement during the season, the team that first filed the Discovery retains the right of first refusal in the event the player is later signed by the League.
(F) DEVELOPMENTAL ROSTER SIGNINGS
Teams are permitted an unlimited number of Developmental player signings during a given season to ensure all four Developmental Roster spots are occupied at any given time. International Player limits per team still apply.
(G) WAIVERS
A team may place a player on waivers at any time during the regular season at which point he is made available to all other teams. The waiver claiming period shall commence on the first business day after the League delivers notice to teams and shall expire at 5 p.m. EST on the second business day after the Waiver Period Commencement Date. The claiming period is 48 hours.
The Waiver Draft order is determined via points per game once all teams have played at least three MLS League games. If the waiver takes place prior to all teams playing in at least three League games, priority shall be granted based upon the prior year's performance, taking playoff performance first, with teams eliminated from playoff contention at the same stage separated according to their point totals through the end of the regular season, and new expansion teams shall be at the bottom of the waiver order. If there is more than one expansion team in a given year, they shall be listed in the reverse order of the SuperDraft order.
Once a team selects a player off waivers, that club is automatically moved to the bottom of the priority list for subsequent waiver selections in a given season, regardless of its points-per-game total. Players who may be placed on the MLS waiver wire are as follows:
(i) A player waived by an MLS team in the current season;
(ii) A player who completed his college eligibility within the past season, who was not made available in the SuperDraft;
(iii) A player who has remaining college eligibility (and was not made available in the SuperDraft), but the League at its discretion and after taking into account exceptional circumstances determines the player may be offered an MLS contract;
(iv) A player who has played in MLS previously where his last MLS team does not wish to exercise their right of first refusal, except in the case of returning U.S. National Team players as stated above.
(H) LOTTERY
Some players shall be assigned to MLS teams via the weighted Lottery process. Any team assigned a player through the lottery in any particular season shall not be assigned another lottery player that season unless and until all teams have received a lottery player or have agreed to waive their option to participate in a Lottery. The players made available through lotteries include:
(i) Generation adidas players signed after the MLS SuperDraft;
(ii) Draft eligible players to whom an MLS contract was offered but who failed to sign with the League prior to the Draft.
The weighted lottery takes into consideration each team's performance over its last 30 regular season games and the most recent postseason. The team with the worst record over its last 30 regular season games (dating back to previous season if necessary and taking playoff performance into account) will have the greatest probability of winning the lottery. Teams are not required to participate in a lottery. Players are assigned via the lottery system in order to prevent a player from potentially influencing his destination club with a strategic holdout.
(I) EXTREME HARDSHIP CALL-UPS
Teams may add players to their roster in cases of "extreme hardship" as follows: (1) a team has less than two available goalkeepers or (2) a team has less than 15 available players. Extreme hardship call-ups are made on a game-by-game basis.
(J) SEASON-ENDING INJURY REPLACEMENTS
A team with a player lost to a season-ending injury can replace that player on its roster, while remaining responsible for the full amount of the injured player's salary. A player can be placed on the season-ending injury list once another player has been signed as a replacement (provided the team has budget space). International player limits still apply at the time a season-ending replacement is made (with the player being replaced not counting against those limits).
(K) SHORT-TERM INJURY REPLACEMENTS
A team with a player who has a short-term injury can replace that player on its roster, while remaining responsible for the full amount of the injured player's salary. A player can be placed on the short-term injured reserve list once another player has been signed as a replacement (provided the team has budget space). Note that the injured player will have to sit out a minimum of six MLS League matches before he can rejoin the team's roster. International player limits still apply at the time a short-term replacement is made (with the player being replaced not counting against those limits).
(L) RETURNING U.S. NATIONAL TEAM POOL PLAYERS
In the event a U.S. National Team pool player playing abroad returns to the U.S. and there is interest from multiple MLS teams, preference will be given first to a team prepared to use an allocation. If there is more than one team prepared to use an allocation on a particular player, the current season's allocation rankings as determined by the MLS Competition Committee would be used. In the event no team is willing to use an allocation, the player will be assigned via waivers.
(M) HOME GROWN PLAYERS
Eligible players must have resided with their parents in a team's "Home Territory" for at least one year prior to placement on a team's Home Grown Player list, subject to the Non-Home Territory exception. Pursuant to all rules regarding qualification as a Home Grown Player, these players may be added to a team's roster Senior or Developmental roster. At this time teams may add up to two players per year from their Home Grown Player list subject to MLS Competition Committee rules.
NOTE: No changes may be made to a team's active full roster during the period beginning on September 16, 2009 (day after Roster Freeze Date) through the day after MLS Cup. Nevertheless, a team may obtain players in accordance with the extreme hardship rules and procedures to replace players who are injured or otherwise legitimately unavailable after the Roster Freeze Date. Any other replacements after the Roster Freeze Date may only be made in exceptional circumstances in the League's sole and absolute discretion.
(III.) METHODS OF RELEASING PLAYERS
(A) WAIVERS
Teams may waive players based on performance at any time during the MLS season. Players on guaranteed contracts waived on or after July 1 of any year, however, will continue to have their salary budget count against the team's salary budget and the team waiving the player will not receive a replacement except under the normal player acquisition mechanisms. Players may not be waived while they are injured, unless the League reaches a settlement with the injured player for his release. In such a scenario, the settlement amount will be charged to the team's salary budget. Upon return to fitness, however, a player may be waived normally.
(B) TRANSFERS AND LOANS
An MLS player may be transferred or loaned at any time to a team outside the League (subject to that team's Federation's transfer window). The registration windows - the dates between which MLS may request the transfer certificate of an international player - are as follows:
January 21 - April 15 (Primary Window)
July 15 - August 14 (Secondary Window)
(C) CONTRACT EXPIRATION
When a player's contract expires, the player does not count against the roster or budget of the team in question. A team retains the rights to the player indefinitely following the expiration of a contract only if attempts were made to re-sign the player.
(IV.) PLAYER RIGHTS
The following explains the status of player rights in specific instances:
OUT OF CONTRACT PLAYERS / OPTIONS NOT PICKED UP: a team retains the right of first refusal to the player indefinitely only if attempts were made to re-sign the player.
DRAFTED BUT NOT SIGNED: a player who was drafted by a particular team through the SuperDraft and did not sign, is placed on that team's "College Protected List" until the second December 31 immediately following the draft in question, after which the team loses the rights to sign the player.
PLAYER TRANSFERRED OUTSIDE MLS: If a team receives allocation money as a result of a player's transfer, the team does not retain a right of first refusal.
