World football governing body, FIFA, has placed a ban on “third-party ownership” of players which allows outside investors to profit from transfers.
FIFA’s Executive Committee, on Friday, voted to ban “third-party ownership, which places a check on investment companies taking a stake in the economic rights of players believed to be under consideration.
Third-party ownership is popular with agents, investors and clubs in Latin America, Spain and Portugal, but is already banned in England.
Despite this, a number of Premier League clubs reportedly had to buy out third-party owners in order to acquire players this summer.
Eliquim Mangala’s £32m move from Porto to Manchester City, Marcos Rojo’s £16m switch from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United and Lazar Markovic’s £20m transfer from Benfica to Liverpool were reportedly three such examples.
FIFA discussed the issue on Thursday, the first day of its autumn executive committee meeting in Zurich, Switzerland and the Players’ Status Committee, which oversees issues around transfers is believed to have voted in favour of recommending a ban on TPO earlier in the week.
President Sepp Blatter said that a working group woild draft new rules to be phased in.
The decision on Friday is a political victory for European football governing body, UEFA and President Michel Platini, who have repeatedly urged FIFA to act.
UEFA says the practice drains huge sums of money from the sport, and threatens the integrity of competitions when players are transferred regularly to generate profits.
Meanwhile, supporters of third-party ownership say it helps clubs sign players they could otherwise not afford.
