Transfers & Contracts...

[GhostOfDixie]

Is the transfer window illegal in terms of freedom of movement within employment?

I know that a contract for 5 years is not worth the paper it is written on, but legally a player must stay at that club for 5 years, so he is making a commitment.

Isn't a transfer pretty much the same thing, apart from that one club pays another club the remainder of the contract plus a little bit extra to secure his services ( or in the case of City and Madrid, far too much extra).

So what I am saying in a roundabout way, if contracts are allowed to be exchanged outside of the window, why not transfers?

 

[Goat]

Are contracts allowed to be exchanged outside of the window?

 

[GhostOfDixie]

Are contracts allowed to be exchanged outside of the window?

Well Arsenal have just made 2 renewals.

 

[Lao]

Are contracts allowed to be exchanged outside of the window?

Renewed rather than exchanged.

 

[Goat]

How strange.

 

[Lao]

You do have a point though Ghost. It does restrict the free movement of labour in the terms of EU directives.

In any normal job you can look for a new one anytime, subject to notice. Unless it is in the terms of the contract that termination by either party can only take place between certain times?

 

[GhostOfDixie]

You do have a point though Ghost. It does restrict the free movement of labour in the terms of EU directives.

In any normal job you can look for a new one anytime, subject to notice. Unless it is in the terms of the contract that termination by either party can only take place between certain times?

So is it because money changes hands?

Then free transfers should be right?

 

[Goat]

In association football, the transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other countries into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer window" is the unofficial term commonly used for the concept of "registration period" as described in the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Player[1] . According to the rules, each national football association decides on the registration periods used in that association. FIFA mandates two registration periods. The first registration periods starts at the end of the season and may not exceed 12 weeks. The second registration period occurs during the season and may not exceed 4 weeks.

The transfer window of a given football association governs only international transfers into that football association. International transfers out of an association are always possible to those associations that have an open window. The transfer window of the association that the player is leaving does not have to be open.

The window was introduced in response to negotiations with the European Commission. The system has been used in many European leagues before being brought into compulsory effect by FIFA during the 2002-03 season.[2] However, the exact regulations and possible exceptions are established by each competition's governing body rather than by the national football association.

 

[Lao]

So is it because money changes hands?

Then free transfers should be right?

I don't think money is the issue - there are still conditions for either party. Really there are two contracts - Contract of Emloyment between player and employer, and Sale Contract, between buyer and seller.

If a player has agreed to terms and conditions of contract then freedom of movement would not come into it, he's signed to say he accepts terms and would be held in breach if he didn't adhere to them (transfer fees are the compensation for this happening I presume).

Sales contracts can be restricted to certain times, alcohol for example. So the window must be within EU legislation.

Then again i may be talking complete tosh.