Teams Plan SuperLiga Protest

When the Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution meet tomorrow night in the finals of Superliga 2008, they will already know what paycheck awaits them. That's because both sides have agreed to pool the first- and second-place prizes for the tournament and distribute them equally among the two squads, in protest of the league's decision to cap the tournament's bonus at 15% if an MLS team prevails.

Rules for the "$1 million" tournament stipulate that a winning MLS side will get $150,000, while a runner-up MLS side will receive $100,000. There are no such rules binding Mexican clubs if they should win the tournament; they get to take home all $1 million. Last year's winner, Pachuca, donated part of their winnings to charity.The MLS Players Union has issued a statement regarding the decision to pool the prize money from tomorrow night's final:

"The players on the Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution have agreed in advance of tomorrow night's SuperLiga final that they will split evenly the bonus money at stake in the game. The players have made this decision to show their solidarity and in protest of the league's violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with respect to the negotiation of bonuses for this tournament."

Lets hope Major League Soccer decides to clean up this mess that has really become a black eye on what looked to be a promising tournament between MLS and FMF clubs.