An update on change drivers and economic and legal implications of transfers of players : executive summary to the DG Education, Youth, Culture and Sport of the European Commission.
Date: 2018-03-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture
Subjects: management, professional sport, sport, sports body

An update on change drivers and 
economic and legal implications of 
transfers of players 

Education, 

Executive  Summary  to  the 
Youth, 
DG 
Culture  and  Sport  of  the 
European Commission 

March 2018 

 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Culture and Sport 
Directorate C — Innovation, International Cooperation and Sport 
Unit C.4 — Sport  

Contact: Eac-Sport@ec.europa.eu   

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

An update on change drivers 
and economic and legal 
implications of transfers of 
players 

Executive Summary to the  
DG Education, Youth, Culture and Sport  
of the European Commission 

written by  

March 2018 

Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture 
SPORT 

3 
EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Disclaimer 
This  document  has  been  prepared  for  the  European  Commission;  however,  it 
reflects  the  views  only  of  the  authors,  and  the  Commission  cannot  be  held 
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 

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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018 

ISBN: 978-92-79-80994-1  
doi: 10.2766/37872 

© European Union, 2018 
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

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Executive summary 

The aim of this report is to analyse the developments of the transfer market since 2013 
in  terms  of  main  economic  trends  and  legal  evolution.  The  study  was  commissioned  in 
October  2017  by  the  Directorate-General  for  Education,  Youth,  Sport  and  Culture  (DG 
EAC)  of  the  European  Commission  and  undertaken  by  KEA,  supported  by  Ecorys.  This 
research draws on and updates the findings of a previous study on the topic, published in 
20131. 

Background and context 

The transfer of players is a relatively unique and complex economic and legal construct, 
because  of  the  difficulties  in  distinguishing  between  sporting  and  economic  matters.  In 
fact,  while  sporting  rules  and  regulations  are  designed  to  preserve  fairness  in  the 
competition, the volume and level of transfer amounts (especially in the football market) 
have significant economic consequences on sports clubs.  

In  this  sense,  the  study  firstly  and  foremost  takes  into  account  the  legal  framework 
provided by the EU in addressing the peculiarity and the dual nature of transfers: a way 
to maintain fair and balanced competition, as well as an economic activity. Under EU law, 
the  transfer  system  is  justified  by  the  specificity  of  sport,  as  set  out  in  the  2007  White 
Paper on Sport, which substantially recognizes that the transfer of players between clubs 
plays an important role in the functioning of team sports. This is particularly relevant in a 
context of sharp growth of the transfer market in the last decade.  

Key findings 

Chapter 2 of this study analyses the most relevant economical features of the EU football 
market.  This  chapter  also  focuses  on  the  potential  discrepancies  and  unbalances  of  this 
market, thus looking at the impact on the competitiveness of the financial concentration 
and lack of economic redistribution. In particular, the study here takes into account the 
impact  of  the  existing  redistribution  mechanisms,  such  as  the  solidarity  and  training 
compensation, but also the redistribution of broadcasting and commercial revenues. This 
chapter  evidences  that  the  size  of  the  European  football  market  is  growing  sharply, 
reaching  a  total  of  €24.6  billion  for  2015/2016,2  and  this  growth  is  reflected  across  all 
aspects of the transfer market: 

 

International  transfer  fees  have  grown  from  USD2.71  billion in  2012 to  USD4.79 
billion in 2016.3 

1  KEA & CDES (2013). The  economic and  Legal Aspects of Transfer of Players.  A report prepared 
for the European Commission, DG EAC. 
2  Deloitte (2017)  Annual  Review of Football Finance:  Ahead  of the Curve. Sports Business Group, 
July 2017. 
3 FIFA TMS (2017) Global Transfer Matchmaking Report 2017. Zurich, Switzerland. 

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  Transfer  fees  (including  domestic  transfers)  in  the  big  five  leagues  have  grown 

significantly from €2 billion in 2012 to €5.9 billion in 2017.4 

  Revenues  stemming  from  broadcasting  rights  have  more  than  doubled  since  the 
previous study for the big five leagues, with a cumulated amount totalling €8.518 
billion 2017/2018 compared to €4.238 billion in 2011/2012.5 

Importantly,  this  chapter  evidences  the  concentration  of  resources  across  top  leagues 
and a small number of clubs, along with the relation between the amount of money spent 
on transfers, sporting results and economical revenues. As a result, the study shows an 
increasing gap between top clubs within the top leagues, but also between the different 
leagues in terms of economic and sporting performances.  

Chapter 3 of the report is based on the recent legal developments in terms of regulations 
implemented  by  the  football  authorities  since  the  publication  of  the  previous  study,  in 
20136.  The  legal  analysis  focuses  on  those  legal  developments  originally  aimed  at 
balancing  the  sporting  competitions,  at  increasing  transparency  in  football  transfers,  at 
protecting youth development and finally at regulating the profession of intermediaries, a 
professional  role  which  is  increasingly  influential  in  the  football  transfer  market.  In 
particular, important legal developments are analysed, such as the implementation of the 
Financial Fair Play by UEFA, the ban on third-party ownership and the FIFA Regulation on 
Working with Intermediaries. Key findings of this chapter include:  

  Regarding  the  Financial  Fair  Play  (FFP),  the  break-even  requirement  mechanism 
has  produced  considerable  results  on  its  core  objective:  improving  financial 
stability  for  clubs.  Conversely,  the  FFP  has  not  led  to  significant  side-effects  in 
addressing competitive balance between clubs (it is important to note this was not 
the purpose of this regulation, however).  

  On another level, the ban on  Third Party Ownership (TPO) might actually worsen 
the current unbalances of the system, because of the difficulties for smaller clubs 
to  receive  external  forms  of  investments.  It  might  however  lead  to  being  more 
ethically acceptable and, most importantly, not affecting the integrity of the game 
if  adequately  implemented.  In  particular,  it  still  requires  some  adjustments  in 
order to prevent loopholes to the ban, such as the bridge transfers. 

  Our  analysis  shows  that  the  newly  implemented  FIFA  regulation  on  football 
intermediaries has not fixed the issues identified.  It stresses the importance of a 
centralised  licensing  system  –  based  on  the  example  of  the  National  Basketball 
Players Association (NBPA) Regulations7 governing player agents in the US  - and 
calls  for  clearer  rules  on  agents’  remuneration,  in  consultation  with  key 
stakeholders and based on market practices. 

4  Raffaele  Poli,  Loïc  Ravenel  and  Roger  Besson  (2017)  Transfer  market  analysis:  tracking  the 
money (2010-2017). CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report n°27, September 2017. 
5  Deloitte (2017)  Annual  Review of Football Finance:  Ahead  of the Curve. Sports Business Group, 
July 2017. 
6 KEA & CDES, supra note 1 
7 NBPA. (2016). NBPA Regulations Governing Player Agents. 
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 

Issues  linked  to  youth  protection  and  development,  discussed  in  section  3.4,  are 
fields where a clear consensus emerges across football stakeholders to take action 
to  enhance  minors’  protection.  Greater  involvement  of  public  authorities,  both  at 
the  national  and  European  levels,  would  be  helpful  to  address  harmonisation 
issues in terms of minors’ protection or entry rules within the EU.  

  The  lack  of  transparency  on  the  transfer  market  has  direct  impacts  on  the 
enforcement  of  the  training  compensation  and  solidarity  mechanisms,  which 
remains  a  challenge  and  shows  no  signs  of  improvement  over  the  years.  The 
development  of  a  Global  Clearing  House  could  increase  transparency  and 
strengthen  the  effectiveness  of  current  measures  for  the  redistribution  of 
revenues, including the solidarity and training compensations. 

However, it should be noted that most of the issues covered and analysed by this report 
are  currently  being  discussed  and  will  soon  be  subject  to  a  process  of  reform  by  the 
relevant  football  stakeholders  interviewed  in  this  study.  The  outcomes  of  these 
discussions should be closely monitored in light of the findings of this report. 

At  this  stage,  the  study  has  identified  8  potential  policy  recommendations  to  feed  into 
this reform process: 
1.  Better exploit the existing social dialogue process on professional football to explicitly 

address issues linked to transfer of players; 

2.  Recast of the FIFA Regulations on Working with Intermediaries; 
3.  Improve  transparency  tools  in  the  football  market  (TMS  database,  Football 

Associations reports, Global Clearing House); 

4.  Increase the solidarity mechanism percentage and strengthen its enforcement; 
5.  Address the issue of bridge transfers by strengthening investigation tools monitoring 

club ownership; 

6.  Regulate  the  loan  transfers  by  limiting  the  number  of  loans  per  beneficiary  and 

lending clubs; 

7.  Improve the rules on minors and the condition of entry for young players; 
8.  Establish a “luxury tax” on transfer fees beyond a certain transfer fee amount. 

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ISBN: 978-92-79-80994-1