On June 29, VICE Sports reported that Crossfire Premiere, a youth club based in Redmond, Washington, was petitioning FIFA's Executive Committee for the right to possibly pursue legal action over the collection of solidarity fees regarding former Seattle Sounder player DeAndre Yedlin. A spokesman for Crossfire told VICE Sports on Wednesday that high level U.S. Soccer officials have contacted the youth club in the hopes that they would drop their request with FIFA.The two sides are working toward a resolution, according to the Crossfire spokesman, although the spokesman added that youth club won't back down from their request to receive some type of compensation for Yedlin. Collecting solidarity fees, which are meant to reward youth clubs for helping develop players, is not permitted under current U.S. Soccer guidelines despite the fact that FIFA mandates youth clubs be paid them.Yedlin transferred from the Sounders to the Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premiere League last year for a reported $4 million. Crossfire officials believe they are due up to as much as $100,000 in solidarity fees, which they would be be receiving in most any other country. But U.S. Soccer has claimed that paying this fee violates the MLS vs. Fraser anti-trust suit from 1998, although they've never specifically stated how to either VICE Sports or to Crossfire.Allowing Crossfire to receive any compensation in the Yedlin transfer would likely force U.S. Soccer to change its guidelines, which are followed by every professional league in the country. Attorneys for Crossfire claim MLS, which is named in the youth club's letter to FIFA, has collected these fees on transfers, including Yedlin's move Tottenham. As proof to FIFA, the Crossfire attorneys included a letter from a Spurs executive, who acknowledges that all fees were sent to the league. Should U.S. Soccer change its guidelines, then MLS might be forced to turn over hundreds of thousands of dollars over to youth clubs not only in the United States, but anywhere in the world where MLS players who were sold to other leagues were initially developed.U.S. Soccer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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