At the heart of football, where talent, opportunity and dreams intersect, order and justice are essential. To fulfil this purpose, FIFA has a statutory obligation to regulate all matters relating to the football transfer system.
To this end, the FIFA Clearing House (FCH), as an independent entity, was designed to protect the core objectives of the transfer system, operating in full compliance with the FIFA Statutes and the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP), thus ensuring, among other things, that:
a) contractual stability between professional players and clubs is protected;
b) the training of young players is encouraged;
c) a spirit of solidarity between elite and grassroots football is promoted;
d) minors are protected;
e) competitive balance is ensured; and
f) the regularity of sporting competitions is maintained.
In this regard, the FCH processes payments related to training compensation and solidarity mechanisms, ensuring that training clubs receive the amounts to which they are entitled. For example, when a transfer occurs that gives rise to compensation, the Transfer Matching System (TMS) generates an Electronic Player Passport (EPP) with the player’s history, allowing the amounts to be distributed among the clubs involved in their training to be calculated automatically. Following the review and validation of the EPP, and upon receipt of the relevant amounts from the new club, the FCH issues the Allocation Statement and executes the payments securely, promptly and transparently to the training club(s). Failure by the debtor club to comply with its payment obligations naturally results in financial and disciplinary sanctions, including the application of administrative fees and other procedures provided for in the applicable regulations.
The FCH also assesses the compliance of all parties involved in the payments, ensuring full adherence to national and international laws and regulations, including sanctions, anti-money laundering, corruption and terrorist financing. It is at this seemingly discreet yet decisive moment, much like a referee’s whistle, that the greatest operational and regulatory risks are concentrated. Compliance Assessment is the point at which the game can move forward – or be interrupted – in the FIFA Clearing House system.
Throughout this evaluation process, the FCH may request detailed information on the corporate structure, beneficial ownership, and source of funds of the parties involved, as well as supporting documentation to verify compliance with legal requirements.
A party will only receive FCH accreditation after successfully passing the Compliance Assessment. Such accreditation is valid for a limited period, until renewal is requested by the FCH. The period of validity will be defined in accordance with regulatory requirements and the FCH’s internal policies.
It is precisely in this area of compliance that specialized monitoring makes all the difference. Technically rigorous, demanding advice, aligned with FIFA’s regulatory practice and FCH’s operational logic, allows not only compliance with all regulations and requirements, but also the anticipation of risks, the protection of rights, and the assurance that each amount due reaches its rightful recipient quickly, safely and reliably. In modern football, winning is no longer just about scoring goals. It is about knowing how to play by the rules – and knowing who is on your side when VAR comes into play.
by Ricardo Cardoso and Gonçalo Pires, Practice Area – Sports, Fashion and Entertainment
