FIFA has published a report on the benefits of reforms in the transfer system

• The document presents initiatives implemented since 2017 to reform the transfer system

• Modernizing the regulatory framework for football is one of FIFA’s key commitments and the first goal of its Vision 2020-2023.

FIFA has today released a document detailing the reforms to the transfer system between 2017 and 2022.

Since the publication of the FIFA 2.0 roadmap at the end of 2016, modernizing the regulatory framework for football and strengthening the transparency, integrity and fairness of the transfer system has always been an important part of FIFA’s commitments, even becoming the institution’s first goal. As part of the Vision 2020-2023.

Launched in 2017 under the leadership of FIFA’s Football Stakeholder Committee, the in-depth review of the transfer system is the first since the system was established in 2001. Thanks to the support and cooperation of many stakeholders (FIFA member associations, confederations, ECA, FIFPRO and the World Leagues Forum), several key reforms have already been implemented that have had a positive impact on the football community.

These reforms include:

• strengthening players’ protections against their clubs, including adding additional valid reasons to allow players to unilaterally terminate their contracts and introducing automatic sanctions for parties who fail to comply with FIFA’s supervisory body’s decision to pay;

• implementation of protection and guarantees for the benefit of football players who become pregnant or give birth to a child under the contract with the club;

• establishing a FIFA Clearinghouse responsible for processing payments, promoting financial transparency and improving good governance standards;

• creating a regulatory framework that offers coaches the minimum protections used by players;

• changing the regulatory framework for agents, which now includes minimum ethical and professional standards, as well as the protection of agents and their clients;

• creating additional protections for underage players, including the first regulatory framework governing trials, including provisions on medical care, minimum ages and effective legal remedies, while stricter rules for private academies, thus improving their oversight of the sport. for a more flexible application of the humanitarian exception to best cover the minors they welcome and, finally, all real situations;

• the creation of a more effective decision-making body in the form of the FIFA Football Tribunal, which handled more than 14,000 disputes and regulatory inquiries in its first year;

• creating a new regulatory framework for loans to protect the development of young players, promote balance and prevent excessive player accumulation;

• the creation of a FIFA Players’ Fund to pay players whose clubs are insolvent, disbanded, insolvent or no longer involved in organized football. Until the end of 2022, FIFA has already invested 16 million dollars in this fund.

As part of the desire to constantly adapt the regulatory framework to the reality of football and the transfer system, FIFA has implemented a number of technical initiatives, such as the creation of the FIFA legal portal – an online platform – the initiation of all procedures before FIFA. bodies will move, gradually replacing the email communication system – or the publication of an updated interpretation of FIFA’s Rules on the Status and Transfer of Players to support stakeholders and ensure uniform application of the rules across the global football community.

The reform process, which took place between 2017 and 2022, was sometimes disrupted by unprecedented challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. These situations required swift and effective regulatory responses, resulting in temporary amendments to FIFA’s rules.

The reforms carried out in the transfer system were welcomed and supported by the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

Victor Montagliani, Vice-President of FIFA and Chairman of FIFA’s Football Stakeholders Committee, said: “FIFA is committed to implementing the final phase of reforms in the transfer system with the support of relevant stakeholders. Finally, the institution will continue to monitor the evolution of the football ecosystem and, if necessary, make the necessary adaptations and modernizations to achieve the ultimate goal: to make football truly global and as attractive as possible.