Even as the tug of war over Oscar Pareja turned a bit contentious last week, it never got ugly.
That’s according to Colorado Rapids president Tim Hinchey, at least, who told MLSsoccer.com’s ExtraTime Radio podcast on Monday that the club will not file tampering charges against FC Dallas for their pursuit of one of the league’s up-and-coming coaches.
The Rapids announced Friday that Pareja was leaving the club for FC Dallas in exchange for allocation money and pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. Dallas first contacted the Rapids about Pareja in November before finally signing him to a contract last week.
“Everything was done on the up and up,” Hinchey told the show. “It’s not the kind of conversation I necessarily wanted to have this time of year, but at least it was done professionally.”
Tampering charges are rare in MLS, but FC Dallas successfully filed them in 2007 against Real Salt Lake after then-head coach Jason Kreis contacted Dallas assistant Jeff Cassar. The two ended up working together at RSL before Cassar took over for Kreis at the club last month.
Listen to Hinchey’s interview below, beginning at the 28:02 mark.
