North Macedonian team posts email exchange with Sporting KC over failed transfer
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- FK Vardar published email exchanges and voiced complaints about failed transfer.
- Mato signed a pre-contract with Hearts after Vardar rejected a $300,000 offer from club.
- Sporting KC pursued Mato while preparing a double-digit roster rebuild.
On Wednesday morning, North Macedonian soccer club FK Vardar took to the internet to voice complaints about a player transfer, including airing email conversations between itself, a player’s agent, and Sporting Kansas City.
The dispute concerns a pre-contract signed by young forward Rogers Mato with Scottish club Hearts of Midlothian F.C. (generally known as Hearts).
Hearts announced the deal with Mato on Tuesday, stating he would join the club in the summer after the completion of his contract with Vardar.
On Wednesday morning, Vardar posted on its club website that it had accepted a “million-dollar offer” from Sporting Kansas City. In a brazen move, Vardar also posted screenshots of email correspondence between the player’s representation and the clubs, with dates and the names of Sporting KC club officials blurred.
One message, appearing to come from Sporting Kansas City, begins with the all-caps text: “PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL”
A Sporting KC spokesperson gave The Star the following statement when asked about the situation:
“Sporting Kansas City explored a transfer for Rogers Mato, but he has elected to sign a pre-contract with Hearts, and we wish him all the best in the future.”
A Hearts spokesperson told The Scotsman that, “We have a signed agreement with the player and are relaxed about the situation.”
Vardar rejected a transfer offer from Hearts of around $300,000 for Mato just last week.
What was the player controversy?
Pre-contracts can become complicated in a hurry.
Any time a player is six months out from the end of a contract, they are free to sign a pre-contract to join another club at the expiration of their current deal.
The onus, then, falls on the club holding the player’s contract to either move them for a transfer fee or agree to an extension before the pre-contract is signed.
In this instance, it looks like Vardar missed its window to receive a transfer fee for Mato, who then agreed to sign elsewhere anyway.
Mato, 21, was a breakout player at the recent AFCON tournament with Uganda.
Sporting Kansas City’s roster rebuild
Sporting Kansas City’s roster build can generously be characterized as a slow burn.
Just a week ago, when introducing Raphael Wicky as head coach, president of soccer operations and general manager David Lee said the club would need to sign at least a “double-digit number of players.”
“We want to get the right players at the right time,” Lee said. “And some of those are taking a little longer than we thought, but we expect to be very busy through the remainder of the window.”
Sporting KC has started its preseason preparations in West Palm Beach, Florida, this week.
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.