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Professional football leagues around the world have cast serious doubts about concluding their respective seasons by the end of June as earlier anticipated.
This is among a series of issues analysed during the meetings between a Fifa task force and major stakeholders over the past few days as the global football fraternity continues to seek practical ways of addressing some of the key issues arising from the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
As a result, a set of principles has been unanimously agreed to by the task force and endorsed by the Fifa Council on Tuesday. This includes the ratification of new temporary regulations on player contracts and transfers.
Fifa said the transfer window would be moved and contracts ending on June 30 would be extended for a short period under the recently agreed proposals.
“It is now obvious that the current season will not end when people thought it would,” Fifa said in a statement. “Therefore, it is proposed that [players’] contracts be extended until such a time that the season does actually end.
READ: Football's financial fallout finds Fifa trying to foot the bill
“A similar principle applies to contracts due to begin when the new season starts, meaning the entry into force of such contracts is delayed until the next season actually does start. Accordingly, Fifa will be flexible and allow the relevant transfer windows to be moved so they fall between the end of the old season and the start of the new season.”
Fifa president Gianni Infantino added that the Covid-19 pandemic had clearly changed all the factual circumstances around football for this season.
“So Fifa, together with the stakeholders, has come up with some practical ideas and proposals to tackle these new circumstances. While this will not solve each and every problem, it should serve to bring a measure of stability and clarity to football for the foreseeable future,” Infantino said.
“We hope that this collaborative effort, under the leadership of Fifa, can provide a positive example of how football can come together and show unity, solidarity and a spirit of compromise in order to face the challenging times ahead. But before these times come, one thing must be clear to everyone, especially now: health comes first, well before football.”
The task force is led by Vittorio Montagliani, chairperson of the Fifa Football Stakeholders Committee. It is composed of representatives from the Fifa administration, confederations, member associations, the European Club Association, international players’ union body Fifpro and the World Leagues Forum.
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