They raised Skrtel. Now he’s paying it back

Transfer to Fenerbahce benefits the clubs where our defender once played. Prievidza and Trenčín are entitled to tens of thousands of euros.

National football team captain Martin Škrtel will spend the next three seasons wearing the jersey of Fenerbahce Istanbul. The 31-year-old defender signed a contract with the Turkish football giant yesterday and will now join fellow Slovak Miroslav Stoch at the club. According to British media, Fenerbahce is expected to pay English club Liverpool at least six million euros for the transfer. This amount is also significant for Slovak clubs that contributed to Škrtel’s football development. Based on FIFA regulations, they are entitled to so-called solidarity payments – essentially a form of development compensation. According to calculations by the Economic Daily, AS Trenčín should receive 90,000 euros, and the same amount should go to the club from Prievidza, where Škrtel began in the youth ranks. “It’s a form of development compensation for clubs where the footballer grew up. In transfers of this size, the payment is usually factored into the transfer fee,” said sports analyst and football agent Jozef Tokos.

Five percent gets distributed
Solidarity payments mean that five percent of the transfer fee is distributed among the clubs where the footballer played between the ages of 12 and 23. In Škrtel’s case, that means 300,000 euros will be split, and besides Trenčín and Prievidza, Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg will also receive a share. Škrtel played there from 2004 to 2008. “It’s a very respected practice, and in major transfers like this, the buying club typically sends the payment automatically,” Tokos said. This is confirmed by AS Trenčín general manager Robert Rybníček, who had previously received such a payment for Škrtel while representing the club. “It was during his transfer from St. Petersburg to Liverpool, and they sent it to us automatically. But not every club handles it that way,” he told the Economic Daily. (...)