FIFA is changing the transfer window rules! Well, not all of them, and only those for loans. The governing body of world football has just published a press release in which it announces several changes in this area. Changes which will be effective on July 1, 2022 and which will not affect players aged 21 or under and club-trained players will not be affected by these limitations.
“The entry into force of the regulations is scheduled for July 1, 2022. The objective is to promote the development of young players and competitive balance, as well as to prevent the accumulation of players. In accordance with the decision taken by the FIFA Football Stakeholders Committee last year, new player loan regulations have been drawn up and will come into force on 1 July 2022, subject to approval by the FIFA Council. FIFA at its next meeting. Various discussions with different groups of stakeholders have made it possible to lay the foundations of the new regulatory framework, which scrupulously pursue the following objectives: strengthening the development of young players, improving the competitive balance, preventing the excessive accumulation of players under contract. »
The new rules:
“To achieve these objectives, it was decided to include in the regulations:
- The obligation to draw up a written agreement specifying the conditions of the loan, in particular its duration and the financial conditions
- A minimum loan duration, corresponding to that between two registration periods, and a maximum duration (one year)
- The ban on sub-lending a professional player to a third party club
- A limit on the number of loans between two clubs each season – a club can simultaneously accept a maximum of three professional players on loan from the same club during a season, this restriction also applies to the number of players that a club can lend to the same club
A limit on the total number of loans a club can make each season – to ensure proper implementation, a transition period is foreseen as follows:
- from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, a club may loan out a maximum of eight professional players and welcome a maximum of eight players on loan at any time during the same season
- from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, the same configuration will apply, but with a maximum of seven players
- from July 1, 2024, the same configuration will apply, but with a maximum of six players
- At national level, the new text provides for a three-year period for FIFA member associations to set up a loan system in accordance with international regulations.
