Major League Soccer unveiled a drastic change to their policy on training compensation and solidarity payments on Thursday, announcing that the league will pursue claims for MLS academy players who sign contracts with teams overseas instead of with the MLS team that developed them.



This represents a 180-degree turn from the league’s previous philosophy, wherein it declined to participate in the system designed to reward youth academies for their efforts in developing players who sign with professional teams.



“As MLS clubs deepen their commitment to player development through significant investments in fully-funded academies, these clubs—consistent with the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players—will now assert training compensation claims for any MLS academy product that signs his first professional contract with a non-MLS club outside of the U.S. and Canada,” MLS said in a release. “Additionally, MLS clubs will seek...