LA Galaxy sanctioned by MLS for violating salary budget and roster guidelines

Major League Soccer has announced sanctions against the LA Galaxy for violating salary budget and roster guidelines during the 2019 campaigns.

The Galaxy entered into undisclosed agreements including unaccounted payments for Cristian Pavon’s salary budget and roster category.

As a result of the payments, Pavon was improperly classified as a Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) player when, in fact, he should have counted as one of three allowed Designated Players (DP).

Multiple sanctions have been placed against the club, including:

• $1m fine for the club.
• $1m loss of available future General Allocation Money (GAM).
• Prohibited from registering a player who requires the receipt of an International Transfer Certificate (ITC) from outside of the United States and Canada during the Secondary Transfer Window in 2023.

Alongside club sanctions, LA Galaxy president Chris Klein has been suspended from all sporting-related responsibilities until the conclusion of the 2023 primary transfer window in January. In the meantime, head coach Greg Vanney will assume the sporting director role, reporting to AEG president and CEO Dan Beckerman.

Former Galaxy general manager Dennis te Kloese will also have to submit an application with the Office of the Commissioner should he wish to secure future employment with an MLS club.

"From the outset, the LA Galaxy and AEG have fully cooperated with MLS to ensure a thorough and transparent process and we accept the outcome and sanctions set forth in this ruling," the Galaxy said in an official club statement.

Watch the story of Charlotte FC's journey to MLS in 90min's The Making of Charlotte FC, presented by DoorDash, on 90min channels now. Subscribe to our new US YouTube channel.