A legal guide to solidarity payments in football under the FIFA Regulations
Published 18 December 2015 By: Andrew Smith
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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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.
