Uefa Moves Against Third-party Ownership
UEFA has moved to address fears on third-party ownership of players by adjusting its financial fair play regulations, after concerns were raised by the English Premier League and the French Football League.
Press Association Sport reports that while UEFA has not gone as far as outlawing third-party ownership, it has closed a potential loophole by stating teams cannot use money gained from selling stakes in players to balance their books for FFP purposes.
Clubs must also formally declare any split in a player’s economic rights.
The latest development comes after UEFA stated in May that it is continuing to investigate initiating a ban preventing players who are subject to third-party ownership agreements from competing in its competitions.
The Premier League last year joined forces with the LFP to lobby UEFA over the controversial topic.
The two bodies had argued that the policy of selling player transfer rights to investors discriminates against the likes of the Premier League and Ligue 1, where the practice is banned.
The policy has long been standard practice amongst Portugal’s top clubs, who can raise funds by selling part of their rights to future transfer fees, and is also being used in Spain, Italy, Germany and Turkey.
FIFA currently oversees transfer policy and permits investors to buy stakes in players, providing they have no control over when they play or when they are bought and sold.
