GENEVA — FIFA wants to open debate on setting soccer transfer fees by algorithm instead of the historic way of two clubs negotiating a market value price for contracted players.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino used his address to its annual law conference that closed Friday in Tokyo to refloat an idea that has circulated for several years about reforms in the global transfer market that is now worth more than $10 billion annually.
“Now more than ever it is fundamental for us to talk about these and other topics,” Infantino told soccer lawyers.
“For example, to discuss about the possibility to use an algorithm to estimate the fair value of transfer fees in order to increase transparency in the transfer system and help the football stakeholders,” the FIFA leader said.
It is unclear how a FIFA-approved method of setting fees would be accepted by clubs who would have their selling options limited, or how it would comply with competition law in the European Union.
A ruling from the EU’s court of justice in Luxembourg in the Super League case six weeks ago did not give soccer bodies UEFA and FIFA the total victory they wanted for their regulatory power.
FIFA’s interest in a price-setting algorithm has aired occasionally since it set up a transfer task force in 2017 reporting to a committee that included delegates from clubs, leagues and player unions. No proposal followed.
PSG’s Kylian Mbappe gestures during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Brest at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. Credit: AP/Thibault Camus
That same year, a record transfer deal was agreed that still stands — the 222 million euros (now $241 million) Paris Saint-Germain paid Barcelona for Brazil forward Neymar.
Weeks later, Kylian Mbappé also joined PSG from France’s then-champion Monaco in a deal valued at about 180 million euros (now $196 million). No other transfer fee paid since has come close and PSG could get no fee…
Read the full article here
