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Inter Miami announced the signing of Casemiro as their newest marquee addition on Wednesday, though the move comes with significant controversy.
According to The Athletic, the club is facing a Major League Soccer investigation for allegedly breaching tampering regulations during the player's acquisition process.
The veteran midfielder, formerly of Real Madrid and Manchester United and a three-time World Cup participant, has joined the south Florida club through the remainder of the 2026 season and the 2027 14-game MLS Sprint Season, with an option to extend through June 2029.
Complicating matters, Casemiro was listed on LA Galaxy's Discovery List rather than Inter Miami's. Although both clubs reached an agreement over his Discovery Rights, the league has launched an investigation into possible tampering, as Miami allegedly held talks with the player prior to securing those rights.
Miami mode: 🔛 pic.twitter.com/JSR0SRCG1X
"Major League Soccer is reviewing a tampering allegation against Inter Miami CF," the MLS statement to The Athletic read. "The league is gathering all relevant information and will refrain from further comment until the review is complete. While Inter Miami CF and the LA Galaxy have reached a settlement for the Discovery Priority to sign Casemiro, the terms will be released upon conclusion of the tampering investigation."
The Discovery Priority system is designed to prevent bidding wars among MLS clubs for high-profile players. Under the established protocol, teams must secure a player's rights before initiating contact — a step that may have been bypassed in the widely anticipated Casemiro-to-Miami move.
While a deal was struck enabling Casemiro to join the Herons, no decision has yet been made regarding what compensation the Galaxy will receive.
In comparable recent cases, the Vancouver Whitecaps paid as much as $400,000 in General Allocation Money to FC Cincinnati for Thomas Müller's Discovery Rights ahead of 2025 negotiations, while the Galaxy obtained Marco Reus's Discovery Rights from Charlotte FC in 2024 for a similar sum.
Each MLS club may list up to five players on a Discovery List at any given time, provided those players are not under contract with MLS or eligible through other acquisition methods such as the MLS SuperDraft. These lists remain private but can be updated at any point.
Miami Clashes With Regulations Again
Inter Miami have a well-documented history of running afoul of MLS salary regulations, as the club's bold ambitions have repeatedly tested the boundaries of the league's complex cap structure.
Back in 2021, long before Lionel Messi's arrival in 2023, the club misrepresented Blaise Matuidi's total compensation, claiming the 2018 World Cup champion fell below the Designated Player salary threshold while quietly paying him millions in additional wages.
Prior to that, the league determined that Andrés Reyes should also have been classified as a Designated Player, and a deeper investigation uncovered the underreporting of several other squad members, including Leandro González Pírez, Nicolás Figal, and Julián Carranza.
In a peculiar attempt to circumvent certain rules, Matuidi — a World Cup winner less than three years earlier — was fielded for Inter Miami's reserve side, which was competing in USL League One, the third tier of American soccer at the time.
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As a result, MLS handed then-chief operating officer and sporting director Paul McDonaugh a one-year ban and fined the club $2 million. Managing owner Jorge Mas also received a $250,000 fine. Over 2022 and 2023, the club was penalized more than $2.27 million in allocation money, dealing a serious blow to roster construction and contributing to bottom-of-the-table finishes in both seasons.
Unlike most European leagues, MLS does not typically deduct points as a disciplinary measure, largely due to the absence of relegation. The league instead enforces penalties through suspensions, monetary fines, allocation money reductions, and roster limitations.