Football transfers now also on Brussels’ agenda

The players’ association FIFPro points to low club revenues from player development. Last year they received only 0.5 percent from transfers.

Ensuring that smaller clubs have the income to fund the development of more football talents – that was the main purpose of so-called training compensations introduced by the International Football Federation (FIFA) back in 2001. In the case of transfers of young players abroad, clubs where they played after signing a contract between the ages of 12 and 23 are entitled to “development fees” according to FIFA’s tables. In Slovakia, this ranges from 10,000 to 60,000 euros per year (for ages 12 to 15 it is 10,000).

It is precisely these low payments from such compensations that the international players’ association FIFPro has highlighted. In a document, it alerted the European Parliament to the vast difference between what player agents earn from transfers and what clubs that developed the players receive. Last year, player transfers totaled 4.2 billion dollars – agents took in 228 million of that, while clubs received only 20.7 million in compensation. “How can it be right that agents earn far more than the clubs that developed the player? It is important to overhaul this system,” said FIFPro General Secretary Theo van Seggelen.

Unexpected income
One reason for the low income from training compensation may be that clubs are not even aware such a possibility exists. That was the case with Liptovský Mikuláš in relation to Žilina-trained player Michal Janec. In 2012, he was loaned to second-division Liptovský Mikuláš. The 19-year-old defender spent nine months there, and in March 2013 Žilina sold him to the Czech team Slovan Liberec. Those nine months in the second division brought Liptovský Mikuláš over 10,000 euros. To compare, that amount covered about a month’s wage costs for their players. On the other hand, the training compensation rules can also cause significant problems for young footballers – for example, for 22-year-old attacking midfielder Boris Turcak, most recently a player for Ružomberok. According to our information, a high training compensation fee is preventing him from securing an attractive contract abroad.

Compensation at a minimum
According to data provided by FIFPro to the European Parliament and reported by Reuters, the aforementioned 20.7 million dollars matches the lowest amount ever paid to clubs in training compensation, recorded in 2012. Meanwhile, payments to football agents reached a record high, increasing by 15 percent compared to 2014. “European football authorities can regulate the amount of training compensation supplements, since they are calculable. Official tables set out the sums individual clubs are entitled to,” explained sports analyst and football agent Jozef Tokos. He is working with Sports Law & Arbitration specifically on enforcing such claims. “Some teams, however, do not get involved in such matters at all – even the prospect of unexpected income does not convince them,” Tokos said. And it doesn’t have to cost the clubs a single euro up front. The agency representing clubs from eight countries worldwide – including teams such as FC Porto and FC Parma – only takes its fee if it wins the case.