Authors: María Belén Fernandéz Valiente 🇺🇾 and Juan Diego Menghi Arburúas 🇺🇾
Lawyers

The article is also available in French and Spanish:

                                                               

Published and translated by the firm Winter – Dávila & Associés
Paris, 2 December 2024                                                                 

I) INTRODUCTION

On November 4, 2024, FIFA published Circular No. 1905 (hereinafter referred to as the “Circular”). Approved by the FIFA Council during its session on October 3, 2024, this Circular introduced amendments to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (hereinafter referred to as the “RSTP”).
The main changes established in the Circular are related to:

a. The FIFA Club World Cup 2025;
b. The codification of a temporary exception concerning the men’s international calendar for 2025-2030; and
c. A technical clarification regarding players and coaches returning after an absence.

II) THE MAIN CHANGES

a. FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP 2025

In light of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, FIFA deemed it necessary to introduce specific changes to the RSTP concerning player registration, registration periods, and the release of players for national teams.

Article 6, paragraph 3 of the RSTP regulates the circumstances under which players can be registered outside one of the two annual registration periods established by the corresponding member association. The Circular allows the 2025 Club World Cup Regulations to introduce various amendments. In this regard, the Circular modifies Article 5.4, enabling the competition regulations for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 to establish an exception to the rule that a player may be registered with a maximum of three clubs and play official matches for two clubs in the same season.

Finally, it establishes an exception to Article 1 of Annex 1 of the RSTP, which requires clubs to release their registered players to teams representing their country. The amendment allows the 2025 Club World Cup Regulations to provide an exception to this principle without setting a precedent or applying it to any other competition or circumstance.

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b. MEN’S INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR 2025-2030

Before analyzing these changes, it is essential to recall that the men’s match calendar has been a subject of intense discussion in recent months. Last October, FIFPRO Europe and European Leagues filed a complaint focused on this calendar, including the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the Club World Cup 2025.

The complainants argue that the international calendar is overcrowded, posing risks to the safety and well-being of players, as well as threatening the economic and social sustainability of competitions.

FIFA timely published this Circular, which, given its timing, is understood not to have a direct connection to the complaint. To amend the regulations on this matter, FIFA conducted a series of consultations with stakeholders and subsequently approved an amendment to the men’s international calendar. Starting in 2026, a new 16-day period with four matches will be introduced at the end of September and the beginning of October. This will replace the two nine-day periods with two matches each that previously took place during those months.

Additionally, considering that the pandemic has concluded, the Circular eliminated the temporary exceptions introduced in March 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

c. CHANGES CONCERNING FEMALE PLAYERS AND COACHES

In January 2021, FIFA published a new edition of the RSTP, which, among other provisions, established certain minimum working conditions for professional female players. It stipulated that the validity of a professional female player’s contract cannot, under any circumstances, be conditional upon the player i) being pregnant, ii) becoming pregnant, iii) being on maternity leave, or iv) exercising her maternity-related rights during the contract term.

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FIFA defined maternity leave as a paid rest period of at least 14 weeks that must be granted to a player in case of pregnancy. Additionally, paragraph 2 of Article 18quarter establishes a presumption of unilateral termination without just cause by a club if the club terminates the player’s contract while she is pregnant or on maternity leave.

Thirdly, it was stated that players have the right to continue providing sports services to the club, provided that doing so does not pose any risk to the player or her pregnancy. Finally, clubs must have suitable facilities for players who are in a state of maternity or breastfeeding, allowing them to nurse their baby or express milk at the club’s premises once they return to their sports activities.

Subsequently, FIFA continued introducing changes and improvements to the regulations applicable to professional players, particularly through Circular No. 1887, which extended protections to coaches and introduced adoption and family leave, as well as the concept of menstrual health.

In the Circular under review, technical clarifications linked to Circular No. 1887 are made. It is clarified that the rule allowing the registration of a player outside a registration period to replace another player applies to all types of leave available (pregnancy, adoption, and parental leave), not just maternity leave. We believe FIFA wisely decided to expand the types of leave that qualify as paid rest periods.

References:

“Manual Practico de Derecho del Deporte” Horacio Gonzalez Mullin, año 2023. Editorial La Ley Uruguay.
“Anuario de Derecho Deportivo” Numero 1, año 1. Año 2021. Editorial La Ley Uruguay.
https://fifpro.org/media/meff0mps/fifpro-maternity-regulations-spanish.pdf

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