BUNDESLIGA IN TRANSFER DILEMMA DFL clears: transfers in winter are only allowed for sportive reasons. How do the clubs react? The Bundesliga GM’s are aiming these days on transactions on the transfer market. Some – the minority – for sportive reasons, some – a majority – for financial reasons. Hannover’s GM Ricardo Moar last week: “We are like dogs and have our eyes always open as in the winter break we want to sign a defender”. In Nürnberg it is an open secret that the club wants to reduce a top player of the roster due lower the debts. Main speculation is on Anthony Sanneh (31), a starting player. Also Frankfurt’s Rolf-Christel Guie-Mien flirts with some Bundesliga clubs. The playmaker and striker of the Eintracht speculates with a winter transfer because of his excellent shape and the buyout option of 250 K. They all hope on the so called transfer period 2 from January 1 to 31. They all hope in vain! In their as well as in many other cases nothing goes. “A player in Europe can only be transferred in the transfer periods. No matter how long he is in the recent club. This transfer period for us in central Europe is the summer period”, explains Wilfried Straub, chairman of the German Football League (DFL) on Saturday in Frankfurt. The summer transfer period ended on August 31st with Fredi Bobic transfer to Hannover. Regarding the coming transfer period in winter, Straub explicitly states: “When in January the second transfer window is opened, a player can only be transferred or signed because of sportive reasons”. Straub also explained what DFL understand under ‘sportive reasons’: “For us a sportive reason mainly is getting playing time” Because of that two player groups got chances on a transfer in January: 1.: Players who didn’t have more than two games and mainly talents who usually are on the bench/tribune and are threatened by stagnating development. They may be loaned to another club if they return to the old club. 2.: Long term injured players who are recovered but don’t have a chance to be considered in their recent club and therefore still have no game in this season. Sportive reasons can also be claimed by clubs though. If Bayern advances in the Champions League and – a constructed example – they need a third goalie, then they’d be allowed to sign one. Same with exceptional injury situations. Under no circumstances weak performances will be accepted as reason for transfers. “We will control every single case”, announced Straub. The common application of the tranfers periods in whole Europe will be a topic at the next meeting of the association of the 13 most important European leagues next Monday in Milan. But “sportive reasons” is and stays an uncertain term which brings the league into a transfer dilemma. By the way: untouched by all these rules remain player who are unemployed since July 2002. They can still sign a contract – also now – a rule that last time was applied for Stefan Effenberg. But after January 31st nothing is possible anymore, also for these players. -------------------- Besides Sanneh this also has the effect that US players without "sportive reasons" can only be signed in summer when your seasons are still in progress. Don't know if Donovan could get a last exception because of his old loan deal, but also a new loan deal would have to end on June 30th.
Olaf, This is sheer insanity! Did anyone expect this? Look, if our season ends and MLS contracts expire on December 31 of each year, that makes players FREE AGENTS as of January 1st -- EVEN IF the window for free agents closes on January 31st (and I don't agree that such a window should EVER close), MLS players out of contract should be in a position to sign for "sportive reasons" or "financial reasons" with ANY club throughout the world during OUR off-season. Look, people rightfully complain that the U.S. government acts unilaterally, without taking into consideration the concerns of other governments. Here, the DFB is doing the same with respect to the USSF and other national soccer federations -- why should every league in the world be forced to accept transfers into the Bundesliga at a time and in a manner of the DFB's choosing?!? And I'm not just talking about MLS here; several of the Scandanavian leagues also play Spring to Fall seasons (for good reason!). This is getting stupid.
Re: Re: New transfer problems in Germany Don't blame me for that Really, panicfc and I detected the "winter problem" when he got a mail of DFB already some weeks ago. Obviously the clubs didn't realise it until this weekend, while I was asking myself since weeks how the clubs want to sell or buy players (as they announced in the media) with the new rules. The rule that January 31 (or the respective dates the single associations established) is a deadline for ALL players including free agents is very old, this is nothing special. NHL etc have such deadlines as well btw, so this is no special European way. You can't blame DFB for this rule as this is a FIFA decision just being realised by DFB. I don't know how it looks like in other leagues, but it's FIFA's will that this is handled like this. As the text says, the assembly of the 13 most important European leagues will care for a europewide solution, however this looks like (but probably as FIFA wants it). I prefer the spring to fall schedule as well btw, but it's difficult to change it.
Re: Re: New transfer problems in Germany I agree, this is nuts. It would be alot less nuts if they made an exception for players from leagues that aren't fall to spring. It's insane that a Scandanavian or American player can't come to Europe (since this is a FIFA rule, it will apply to ALL fall-to-spring leagues, right olaf?) unless he leaves in the middle of his own season. I'm interested in how an MLSer who is a free agent will be treated under this.
Re: Re: Re: New transfer problems in Germany The following is the FIFA statute taken from their website. Art. 2 – Registration periods 1. Each national association will decide upon the establishment of two registration periods per year, according to the following principles: a) The first registration period will start, at the earliest, when the national championship has ended and finish, at the latest, before the subsequent national championship begins. This period should, in principle, last for no longer than six weeks. b) The second registration period will occur approximately in the middle of the season. This period should, in principle, last for no longer than four weeks and should be limited to registrations for strictly sport related reasons, such as technical adjustments to a team or the replacement of injured players, or in exceptional circumstances. 2. The national associations shall notify FIFA of the two periods they have established as registration periods pursuant to par. 1 above. Reading this the DFB is taking a very literal interpretation of the rule. I think it gives more flexibility than how the DFB is interpreting it. They use the word should which leads to some ambiguity. Also the term technical adjustments can be interpreted several ways to allow any type of transfer. Just me but I see this as leading to several interpretation by different associations which may lead to a mishmash of rules for the 2nd transfer window unless a confederation as a whole decides on their own interpretation.
DFB has the main transfer period two weeks longer than FIFA wants it. But as the rules say: every association needs to determine a period 1 and 2 for transfers. Most European countries have period 1 (main period) in summer. How does USSF handle it? Did they realise the FIFA instructions and determine period 1 for spring or winter?
Almost as bad as the open enrollment period for choosing/changing HMO's, a subject that I hope Olafg is blissfully ignorant on ... I wish I were.
Under FIFA's sport-related reasons is, "such as technical adjustments to a team" -- which appears to be explicitly excluded by the DFB.
"Technical adjustments" is a very uncertain term. Maybe there'll be changes after next Monday's meeting.
I looked all over the USSF site and can't find anything about what the transfer windows are that the USSF has designated. Maybe they're on the FIFA website.
Might very well be possible that the single leagues determine the transfer periods themselves. MLS has - as well as most US pro leagues - a very unique transfer system with the league basically being the contract partner of all players and just sending the players to the franchises; don't know how A-League and D3 handle this. How are the rules for MLS regarding players who want to be signed? Do all have to be drafted or can the clubs sign some as free agents? If all have to be drafted at a certain date, there is no transfer deadline necessary
Except MLS is a member of the USSF which is a member of FIFA so the USSF has to set some kind of transfer window. While MLS is unique in who signs the players they aren't totally unique in how a player is signed, a transfer is still a transfer. They don't all have to be drafted. Teams can sign free agents but all the contract negotiations and actually signing of the player are handled by the league office. They way it works typically is a team identifies a player they want signed. Someone from the league starts the negotiations with the player's agent, once they agree the player signs a contract with the league and is then "allocated" to the team that put in the request. There are roster deadlines that are set by the league so in essence these are the transfer deadlines. The FIFA regulations only say that in principle the windows should only last 6 and 4 weeks respectively. In reality the first window, which is after the league ends and before it starts up again, last the entire off season which for MLS is Nov-Feb or March. The problem is that FIFA says the second window should be in the middle of the season. For MLS there is a roster date for the beginning of the season right around a week before the season starts, for this last season it was March 26. Then there is a date in which no roster moves can be made for the remainder of the season which is after the last regular season game and before the playoffs start. There is also a dealine by which all trades can be made and it's around 6-8 weeks left in the season. So for MLS there really isn't a 2nd transfer window, they have one big one that starts after the final game of one season and goes until the regular season finishes of the next season. While you could argue it isn't technically in violation of the FIFA statute, it may not be in the spirit of the statute. I'm sure the A-League and D3 have similar rules but I'm too lazy to look them up.