Angel City FC docked 3 points, fined for salary cap violation

Angel City FC has been fined $200,000 and deducted three points in the 2024 standings after a National Women’s Soccer League investigation uncovered salary cap violations, the league announced Thursday.

Team president and CEO Julie Uhrman and general manager Angela Hucles Mangano also have been suspended “from conducting duties related to any player transactions” for the rest of 2024.

The penalties are the steepest in league history for a sporting infraction. The three-point deduction drops Angel City to 12th place and nine points outside of a playoff position with four games to play.

The violations stem from Angel City FC entering into “five side letters directly with players that effected multi-year agreements and were not disclosed to the league” in deals executed in 2023, compensating them outside of what was reported to the league in their contracts, the NWSL said in a news release.

According to the league, the undisclosed benefits caused Angel City to exceed the salary cap by approximately $50,000 for four weeks during the 2024 season.

“The NWSL remains committed to maintaining fairness and transparency across all clubs, reinforcing the importance of adhering to established rules and upholding the competitive balance within the league,” the league’s release said.

Angel City FC did not immediately respond to ESPN’s request for comment.

Additionally, the NWSL said it would be “conducting annual investigations and audits of player spending across clubs to ensure compliance with league rules.”

ESPN’s anonymous general manager survey, which was released last month, revealed almost unanimous agreement that teams do not follow the rules. Several GMs pointed to salary cap violations and side compensation as major problems in the league.

“No. People cheat and they cheat the salary cap,” one GM said. “We have visibility to the salary cap and I know what players need to get paid in the league, and I see what they are getting paid [elsewhere] and it’s not possible. … We’ve traded for players before and as part of the trade we’ve been informed that they are getting paid other money outside of what’s in their contract, so that’s an indication that other teams are doing it.”

A different GM said, “People have different ways that they can give players money and I think that’s the biggest thing that probably front office people do.”

In 2021, before playing a match as an expansion team the following season, Angel City was fined $40,000 for tampering while attempting to sign a player from another team.