Here is a comprehensive guide to FIFA regulations on the status and transfer of players.
According to reports, Manchester City are set to become the latest football club to be banned from registering players (likely at both Academy and First Team levels) in the next two transfer windows by FIFA, for breaking rules related to the international transfer and registration of players aged 18 or under. A transfer ban for the Premier League champions would come just one month after fellow Premier League rivals Chelsea were hit with the same sanction. However, the question on everyone’s lips seems to be: What do the ‘rules’ regarding international transfers of young players actually say?
The process relating to an international transfer of a young football player is much more complicated than that of a senior player as the transfer must adhere to the stringent requirements set out in the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (the “Regulations”).
The starting point, when considering the international transfer of a minor (a minor is defined in the Regulations as a player who has not yet reached the age of 18) is Article 19.1 of the Regulations which stipulates that, “international transfers of players are only permitted if the player is over the age of 18”. The prohibition on the international movement of young players intends to guarantee their welfare and to limit potential detrimental practices such as their exploitation and trafficking. On the whole, FIFA aims to ensure a strict implementation of the Regulations.
Nevertheless, Article 19.2 of the Regulations provides for an exemption to the above prohibition as it states that the international transfer of a player aged 18 or under may be permitted if at least one of the following conditions is satisfied:
- The player’s parents move to the country in which the new club is located for reasons not linked to football.
- The transfer takes place within the European Union or European Economic Area and the player is aged 16 to 18, in which case the new club must fulfil the following minimum obligations (this particular exemption is of major focus for British clubs in the context of Brexit – it is anticipated that British clubs will miss out on the most promising European talent, as they will have to wait until the player is 18 before they can conclude an international transfer):
- It shall provide the footballer with an adequate football education and/or training in line with the highest national standards.
- It shall guarantee the player an academic/school/vocational education/training in addition to his football education and/or training, which will allow the player to pursue a career other than football should he cease playing professional football.
- It shall make all necessary arrangements to ensure that the player is looked after in the best possible way (optimum living standards with host family or in club accommodation, appointment of a mentor at the club, etc.).
- It shall, on registration of such a player, provide the relevant association with proof that it is complying with the aforementioned obligations.
- The player lives no further than 50km from a national border and the club with which the player wishes to be registered in the neighbouring association is also within 50km of that border. The maximum distance between the player’s domicile and the club’s headquarters shall be 100km. In such cases, the player must continue to live at home and the two associations concerned must give their explicit consent.
It is interesting to note that Article 19.2 of the Regulations outlines that it is the responsibility of the transferring player’s prospective new club to prove that it will be able to provide the player with a good “academic/school/vocational education”, in addition to a football education and / or training. In light of this requirement, it is evident that the education of young players is of paramount importance to FIFA and, as such, there are strict educational requirements that must be fulfilled if there is to be an international transfer of a minor.
In February 2018, FIFA published a “Minor Player Application Guide” (the “Guide”) in order to provide useful guidance to clubs wishing to sign a minor from overseas. The Guide specifies that the club / national association wishing to register the player must provide documentary proof of the education that the transferring player will receive. The Guide provides that:
“The documentation of academic education must include a signed and stamped statement issued by the relevant academic provider that confirms the player’s enrolment, the qualification the player will receive upon completion of the course, the player’s expected date of graduation, and a signed weekly academic schedule of the player that clearly indicates the days on which each class meets and the duration of each class.”
When considering the amount of detail that is required, it comes as no surprise that it is often harder for a club to show that it satisfies the rigid requirements for an academic education, than for it to demonstrate its capability to provide a footballing education. This discrepancy can often cause problems when a club within the European Union or European Economic Area attempts to sign a 17 year old player (from a club in those jurisdictions therefore triggering the 19.2(b) exemption) as a professional and outside of its scholarship programme (which delivers the formally integrated government supported football and education programme for 16-18 year olds at most professional clubs in the Premier League and Football League).
Notwithstanding the above, the prohibition on the international transfer of minors also extends to first registrations of non-national minors (as outlined in Article 19.3 of the Regulations). In essence, if a minor has never previously been registered with a club and is not a national of the country in which he wishes to be registered with a club for the first time, then that first registration of the minor is also forbidden unless one of the exceptions under Article 19.2 of the Regulations (as outlined above) is satisfied.
In addition, Article 19.3 of the Regulations provides for ‘the 5-year rule’ which, essentially, allows for the first registration of a minor with a club in a country that the player is not a national but has continuously lived for at least 5 years immediately prior to the intended first registration.
Article 19.4 of the Regulations embodies FIFA’s efforts to further strengthen the protection of minors in world football as it establishes the procedural mechanisms of the regulatory framework relating to the international transfer of minors. Article 19.4 provides that the Sub-Committee, which is appointed by the FIFA Players’ Status Committee, is authorised to inspect and approve every international transfer and every first registration of minors in football. Furthermore, Article 19.4 of the Regulations states that national associations are required to submit an application to the Sub-Committee in order to seek an approval before any registration of a minor can take place. In addition, the procedural mechanisms set out in Article 19.4 also encompass a compulsory use of FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (the “TMS”) for the international transfer and the first registration of minors.
Annexe 2 of the Regulations provides for useful guidance as it expands upon the procedural mechanisms set out under Article 19.4 of the Regulations. More notably, Annexe 2 stipulates that approval applications to the Sub-Committee for the international transfer of a minor must be lodged and managed through the TMS. It should be noted that the responsibility to enter these applications rests with national associations as opposed to clubs (which is why we often see national associations sanctioned alongside clubs when breaches of the Regulations relating to minors occur). Annexe 2 Paragraph 5 of the Regulations also sets out that there are specified compulsory documents that must be submitted to support the applications. As the documents submitted are examined and scrutinised by the Sub-Committee, it is essential that the documents clearly prove that the international transfer (or the first registration) of the minor falls within one of the exceptions stated in Article 19.2 of the Regulations.
Annexe 3 of the Regulations is also of huge importance as it provides the legal basis for the TMS and emphasises a further commitment by FIFA to use the TMS for the protection of minors. The reason for this is that Annexe 3 of the Regulations specifically requires a national association, which wishes to register minors relying on the exceptions listed in Articles 19.2 and 19.3 of the Regulations, to obtain the authorisation of the Sub-Committee and to use TMS.
Aside from the procedural requirements under Article 19 of the Regulations it is important to note that there are other procedural rules, set out in the Regulations as a whole, which apply to all international transfers in football (including the international transfers of minors).
A fundamental procedural requirement for any international transfer is the issuance of the International Transfer Certificate (the “ITC”) by the transferring player’s former association to the new association, within whose territory the player’s new club is based (as outlined in Article 9 of the Regulations). This is a critical requirement that must be adhered to as unless the ITC is received then the prospective footballing association is not allowed to register the player. The rules relating to the issuance of the ITC also apply to the international transfer of a minor.
The final procedural requirement that applies to the international transfer of minors is the registration obligation under Article 5 of the Regulations. The registration requirement is a necessity for any player if they are to be eligible to participate in organised football. Thus, it is crucial that minors are registered with an association within whose territory their clubs or respective academies are situated.
When considering the aforementioned Regulations in context, it soon becomes apparent that Article 19 of the Regulations does not operate in a vacuum. In reality, and in practice, Article 19 interweaves with other provisions of the Regulations which are essentially, administrative requirements related to the international transfer of players in general (subsequently making them applicable to the transfer of minors also).
As evidenced by the recent sporting headlines, football clubs and national associations which act in violation of Article 19 of the Regulations may face the wrath of FIFA’s severe sanctions. Only last month Chelsea were found to have committed 29 breaches of Article 19 of the Regulations. Consequently, the west London club have been banned from signing players in the next two transfer windows for breaching the Regulations. Chelsea have also been fined £460,000, while the Football Association has been fined £390,000. Chelsea have already lodged an appeal against its punishment but the club has been told by FIFA that the sanction would not be ‘frozen’ while the case is being reviewed (as Chelsea had initially hoped would be the case). When reflecting on the strict rigidity of the Regulations, it is difficult to see how both a club and a national association can fall foul as a result of naivety or administrative oversight. It is highly likely that such clubs falling foul of the Regulations have taken active steps to circumvent those Regulations (for example: manufacturing a set of circumstances which make it look like a player’s parents have moved to the country for ‘non-footballing reasons’ (the Article 19 (a) exemption), or clubs have informal relationships with private academies (not affiliated with the respective national associations or FIFA) based in the same country and then facilitate a move of the player at a young age to the private academy and then attempt to rely on the ‘5 year rule’ 19.3 exemption.
Recent reports seem to infer that Manchester City are expected to be hit with the same two-window transfer ban as Chelsea, for allegedly breaching the Regulations concerning the international transfer of minors. As well as Chelsea and Manchester City, Spanish trio Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid have all fallen foul of the Regulations and all have been punished for the signing of underage players from abroad in the past. However, Real Madrid saw their ban reduced on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport – an avenue which Chelsea and now even perhaps City will seek to explore.
