A legal guide to solidarity payments in football under the FIFA Regulations

Article 21 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (“RSTP”)1 is entitled “Solidarity mechanism” and provides as follows:
“If a professional is transferred before the expiry of his contract, any club that has contributed to his education and training shall receive a proportion of the compensation paid to his former club (solidarity contribution). The provisions concerning solidarity contributions are set out in Annexe 5 of these regulations.”
Solidarity payments will only be payable if:
- Upon the international transfer of a player between professional clubs; and,
- A player is transferred for a fee, between clubs belonging to different national associations, prior to the expiry of his employment contract.
Solidarity payments will be a maximum of 5% of the agreed transfer compensation.
This guide provides answers to following question regarding Solidarity payments:
- What solidarity payment(s) are payable, and to whom?
- What is the process for making the relevant payment(s)?
- What if a player is signed on loan?
- What happens if a player’s training history cannot fully be ascertained?
- Timeframe for making solidarity payments
- Disputes regarding solidarity payments
This article is based on a previous article by the author 'A guide to training compensation and solidarity payments in football'.
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- Tags: Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) | Employment Law | FIFA | FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber | FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players | FIFA Training Compensation System | FIFA's International Transfer Matching System (TMS) | Football | Governance | Regulation | Training Compensation
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About the Author
Andrew Smith
Andrew is a barrister practising from Matrix Chambers in London. He is an employment law specialist, and has a keen interest in sports law and sport generally. His Matrix profile (including Directory recommendations) may be viewed here.