After CD FAS blasted the Red Bulls and ripped them for causing the delay in getting Alfredo Pacheco’s ITC card over $30,000, the Red Bulls called bull. Managing director Erik Stover and sporting director Jeff Agoos denied the reports and said don’t be duped into believing everything you read.
FAS VP Rafael Villacorte told Diario de Hoy that RBNY hadn’t completed the deal, complained they hadn’t deposited the $30,000 loan fee and sent a copy of the contract with “economic details” erased and without a signature from FAS president Reynaldo Valle. Stover denied every charge, saying this hold up isn’t because of RBNY and isn’t about the cash.
“It’s really (naive) to think the money has anything do with this issue,” Stover told the Post, adding that the contract clearly stipulates the money isn’t to be paid until 15 days AFTER Pacheco signed, got his P-1 visa and an international transfer certificate was received. Of course that didn’t stop FAS from trying to pull a shakedown when Agoos called this week, wanting their coin up front; but the money isn’t the issue.
“Can there be a team more desperate for a win than us, and we’d hang up over $30,000? This has been going on for weeks. You haven’t heard anything for us and it’s for a reason; it’s been unnecessarily difficult.” To give you an idea how difficult, the initial contract was signed on March 1. That’s so long ago A-Rod was healthy, Plaxico Burress was a Giant, the Knicks were in the playoff hunt and T.O. was a Cowboy. Pacheco got his P-1 visa on April 1, and flew to the U.S. the next day. Yet here we are still waiting for his ITC, which is why he’ll miss tonight’s game at Houston, the second tilt this delay has cost.
“The Red Bulls organization has followed all of the transfer rules for securing the rights to Mr. Pacheco from his former team CD FAS,” Agoos said in a release.
“We have a fully executed contract dated March 1, 2009, signed by CD FAS president Jose Reynaldo Valle and stamped with the CD FAS official seal securing the rights to Mr. Pacheco to play for the Red Bulls. The contract states that CD FAS will receive the transfer payment from MLS within 15 days of receipt of the ITC. However, as of today, we have still not received the ITC.”
Once this more-tedious-than-it-had-to-be deal is finally worked out, I’ll have the details of what actually happened. At the moment I can’t share them all, but _ and anybody who knows me knows I rarely say this _ it’s NOT about the money.
