EXTEND PLAYER CONTRACTS, ALIGN TRANSFER WINDOW: FIFA

MANCHESTER:CURRENT contracts for players and coaches should be extended until the end of the delayed domestic football seasons, according to an internal FIFA document presented to its Covid-19 working group.

The confidential document also recommends allowing transfer windows to be changed in accordance with new season dates and urges clubs and players to find solutions to salary payments during stoppages.

The document was due to be discussed by FIFA’S working group later on Thursday.

FIFA set up the working group on March 18 and said it will “assess the need for amendments or temporary dispensations to the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players’ to protect players and clubs and adjusting player registration periods.

“This work has already started and will be conducted in consultation with all key stakeholders, including confederations, member associations, clubs, leagues and players,” FIFA added.

NO RESTART DATES

While domestic leagues are hoping to resume when the threat from the virus has receded, concrete dates have yet to be fixed.

That leaves the issue of expiring player contracts, which are timed to finish at the end of a season, as a potential headache.

The key suggestion to the working group is that “where an agreement is due to expire at the original end date of a season, such expiry be extended until the new end date of the season”.

The same approach would apply to deals for next season, with their start date delayed in accordance with the shifting calendar.

The risk of some domestic divisions starting and finishing earlier or some national leagues having a different start date to other countries is also tackled.

Transfer payments between clubs, scheduled around league start and end dates should also be delayed until the new start date of a season or its first registration period, the document states.