Angel City Football Club’s late-season playoff push was dealt a severe blow Thursday.
The NWSL announced that the club was being deducted three points, effective immediately, after the conclusion of an investigation that determined that Angel City was found guilty of a salary cap violation.
According to the report, during the “calendar year 2023, ACFC entered into five side letters directly with players that affected multi-year agreements and were not disclosed to the league.
“These agreements included a combination of compensation and benefits that were reflected in the Standard Player Agreement and excess benefits that were neither reported to the league nor included in the Standard Player Agreement. Due to these undisclosed benefits, ACFC exceeded the salary cap by approximately $50,000 for four weeks during the 2024 season.”
According to The Athletic, the base salary cap for the 2024 season was set at $2.75 million.
Along with the three-point deduction, Angel City will be fined $200,000 and president and CEO Julie Uhrman and General Manager Angela Hucles Mangano have been suspended, effective immediately, from “conducting duties relating to any player transactions for the remainder of the 2024 calendar year.”
The NWSL also said it “will be conducting annual investigations and audits of player spending across clubs to ensure compliance with league rules.”
Angel City (6-12-4) now sits in 12th place on 19 points, instead of 22, heading into Friday night’s road game against the Seattle Reign (5-12-5, 20 points). Angel City is now nine points behind the eighth and final playoff spot in the 14-team league, with four games remaining.
The Angel City franchise was recently valued at $250 million and Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay, Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, were announced as the new controlling owners.
Fuller selected for U-17 World Cup
Kennedy Fuller, 17, was selected to the U.S. U-17 World Cup roster.
The tournament opens Oct. 16 against Spain (1 p.m., FS2) in the Dominican Republic. The U.S. will also face Colombia (Oct. 19, 4 p.m., FS2) and South Korea (Oct. 22, 1 p.m., FS2).
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Fuller is one of four pros on the U.S. roster. She was the Golden Ball winner as the top player of the CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship in February.
“It’s huge,” Angel City coach Becki Tweed said of Fuller’s selection. “Any time that you can represent the U.S. or your country on the world stage is massive. We’re excited to watch her progress and see how far she’s come after her first year as a pro, and where that lines up in terms of the U-17s and the rest of the world.”
ANGEL CITY FC at SEATTLE REIGN FC
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Lumen Field; Seattle
How to watch: Amazon Prime Video