Training compensation shall be paid to a player's training club(s): (1) when a player signs his first contract as a professional, and (2) each time a professional is transferred until the end of the season of his 23rd birthday. The obligation to pay training compensation arises whether the transfer takes place during or at the end of the player's contract."
More detailed provisions on training compensation are imposed in Annexe 4 of the FIFA Regulations.
Pursuant to the Annexe, a player’s training and education takes place between the ages of 12 and 23. Training compensation shall be payable, as a general rule, up to the age of 23 for training incurred up to the age of 21.3
Training compensation is due when a player is registered for the first time as a professional or a professional is transferred between clubs of two different associations before the end of the season of his 23rd birthday4 (although compensation is not due when the player is transferred to a club in the lowest category (category 4 – explained below)5).
On registering as a professional for the first time, the club with which the player is registered is responsible for paying training compensation to the players’ former registered clubs that have contributed to his training. More importantly, in the case of subsequent transfers, training compensation will only be owed to his former club.6