'Club World Cash Grab' - Seattle Sounders players demand fair MLS payout for CWC, backed by MLSPA

Seattle Sounders players are demanding a fair share of the FIFA Club World Cup prize money the team secured when qualifying for the international tournament, and received backing from the Major League Soccer Players Association.

Players wore warm-up shirts with critical messages ahead of their home match against Minnesota United FC on Sunday - an eventual 3-2 loss - to protest the distribution of prize money on offer from MLS for participating in the CWC.

Some players' shirts had the slogan "Club World Cash Grab," while others had "Fair Share Now." The Seattle Sounders' lead supporter group, the Emerald City Supporters, joined in the protest.

The MLS Player Association showed solidarity with the Sounders, saying in a statement all MLS players are behind Seattle's cause.

"The MLSPA and all MLS players stand united with the Seattle Sounders players who tonight demanded a fair share of the FIFA Club World Cup prize money. FIFA's new tournament piles on to players' ever-increasing workload without regard to their physical well-being. In order to seize this additional calendar territory, FIFA had to commit historic amount of prize money to secure club and player participation. As a result, MLS will receive an unprecedented financial windfall," the players and the MLSPA said in a statement.

GOAL has reached out to MLS for comment.

Each MLS club gets $9.5 million just for participating in the tournament, and will get $2 million for each win and $1 million for a draw. If an MLS team were to advance, it would get another $7.5 million. That would be a significant financial boost for any MLS club participating, which doesn't pull in the annual revenue of some of the European giants participating in the tournament.

According to MLS's CBA, teams are currently capped at just $1 million for bonuses to provide to their players. That means if a team has a roster of 30 players, the bonus would be $33,333 per player. MLS and the K1 League are the only leagues in the Club World Cup in which teams have a cap on their bonuses for players. By comparison, European teams participating have internal agreements with their players for bonuses.

Inter Miami, will kick off the Club World Cup on June 14 when it hosts Al Ahly at Hard Rock stadium. Miami are one of three MLS team participating in the CWC, along with Seattle and LAFC.

The Sounders will have one more MLS match before they kick off their participation in the Club World Cup on June 15 against Brazilian giants Botafogo. It remains to be seen if Seattle will continue its protest.