2020 Amendments To The FIFA Regulations On The Status And Transfer Of Players

On February 13, 2020, FIFA, the international governing body of football, released Circular no. 1709, informing its member associations of the adoption of several amendments, approved by the FIFA Council in Shanghai on 24 October 2019, to their Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (“RSTP”).

As one of the most important regulations enacted by FIFA, the RSTP ensure contractual stability in the world of football and contractual cohesion amongst players, clubs and member associations.

In a nutshell, the recent changes to the RSTP include:

Application of the solidarity mechanism to national transfers with an international dimension; Specifications on the international transfer of minors; Streamlining of process for provisional registration of players; Handling of validation exceptions through the Transfer Matching System (TMS); and Specifications on bridge transfers. A. Application of the solidarity mechanism to national transfers with an international dimension and two clarifications concerning training compensation

It is worth considering how the FIFA solidarity mechanism works under the RSTP. If a professional football player moves from one club to another during the course of his employment contract, 5% of any compensation - not including training compensation paid to his former club - will be deducted from the total amount of this fee and distributed by the new club as a solidarity contribution to the club(s) that were involved, over the years, in his training and education.

By way of the 2020 amendments to the RSTP, subject to whether compensation is paid, the transfer of a player during the course of a contract between clubs affiliated to the same association will now be subject to the payment of a solidarity contribution to any of the player's training clubs affiliated to a different association.

In addition, the RSTP articles concerning training compensation have been updated to harmonise language (art. 20) and to codify existing practice (art. 22 lit. e)).

2. Reflecting the established practice regarding the international transfer of minors

   Over the years, the general prohibition on the international transfer of minors has been the subject of two unwritten exceptions which have now been incorporated to reflect the well-established jurisprudence of the Sub-Committee of the FIFA Players' Status Committee ("the sub-committee”).

   The first exception, now codified under the RSTP, allows registration where the minor player has...