Sports lawyer explains how clubs, academies lose millions in player transfers
A FIFA-licensed agent and international sports lawyer identified as Israel Ajoje has urged clubs to demand owed solidarity payments – one of the most important financial provisions in football law.
Ajoje who made the call in a post shared on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle stated that each time a professional footballer is transferred from one club to another, 5% of that fee belongs to the clubs that trained them.
He stated further that under the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, every club that contributed to a player’s training between the ages of 12 and 23 is entitled to a share of 5% of every transfer fee paid for that player.
However, Ajoje disclosed in his tweet that the FIFA solidarity mechanism, which is one of the most important financial provisions in football law, is not observed by the people it is designed to protect as they know little about it and clubs never see a penny of it.
According to him, the problem is not the rule, but the countless number of academies across Africa, South America and Asia, which have trained players who went on to sign multi-million euro deals and never pursued the solidarity payments they are owed by buying clubs.
Ajoje also used the medium to call on every academy director, club administrator and coach to understand that if a club trained a player who went on to play professional football anywhere in the world, then that club may be owed money right now.
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His tweet reads; “Every time a professional footballer is transferred, 5% of that fee belongs to the clubs that trained him. Most of those clubs never see a penny of it.
“This is the FIFA solidarity mechanism. And it is one of the most important financial provisions in football law that the people it is designed to protect know the least about.
Here is how it works.
“Under the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, every club that contributed to a player’s training between the ages of 12 and 23 is entitled to a share of 5% of every transfer fee paid for that player. Not just the first transfer. Every transfer. For the rest of their professional career.
“That 5% is taken from the buying club and distributed proportionally among the development clubs based on how many years they trained the player. A club that had a player from age 12 to 15 gets a different share than one that had him from 18 to 21. But every club that contributed gets something.
“It is not a goodwill gesture and it is not negotiable between clubs. It is a legal obligation built into the architecture of the transfer system. The buying club owes it automatically by design.
“Now think about what that means in practice.
“Victor Osimhen moved from Napoli to Galatasaray for a reported €75 million. Five percent of that is €3.75 million distributed among every club that trained him between 12 and 23. That reportedly includes Ultimate Strikers Academy in Lagos. A Nigerian academy. Money they are legally entitled to.
“Romelu Lukaku has also been the subject of multiple transfers between Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Inter Milan. The academies he made for got a cut for every one of those moves he made.
“The problem is not the rule. The rule is well designed. The problem is that countless academies across Africa, South America and Asia have trained players who went on to multi-million euro careers and never pursued the solidarity payments they were owed.
“Either because they did not know the mechanism existed, did not know how to file a claim, or did not have the legal support to navigate the process.
“Every academy director, club administrator and coach reading this needs to understand one thing. If your club trained a player who went on to play professional football anywhere in the world, you may be owed money right now.
“The mechanism exists. The obligation is real. Go and claim what belongs to you. You can reach out to me if you need help.
“My name is Ajoje. I am a FIFA Licensed Agent and International Sports Lawyer. I write on the Law and Business of Football, a lot. Repost and Follow if you want to read more posts like this,” the tweet concluded.
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While the message in Ajoje’s tweet may sound like news to the ears of many, some are of the opinion that sometimes, clubs with help of intermediaries try to structure deals in ways that avoid or reduce solidarity payments just like an X user Hamady Ahmed @haamady noted in the comment section of Ajoje’s tweet.
“Some clubs, sometimes with the help of intermediaries, try to structure deals in ways that avoid or reduce solidarity compensation payments.
“But if solidarity is a mandatory FIFA mechanism tied to player development, can such workarounds actually be valid under the regulations? @haamady asked.
However other X users under the post believe that some players and clubs know nothing about the rule and are not duly registered with FIFA to benefit from the solidarity payments.
@MLFiuk wrote; “FIFA launched the FIFA clearing house to monitor the process. But then clubs and said players have to be duly registered under FIfa to be eligible.”
@UfokaUgoo wrote: “I strongly believe so many clubs know nothing about this rule. And it doesn’t come to them automatically, they’ll have to chase what belongs to them right??”
@WolexOlaye wrote: “If I may ask, how are grassroots academy’s getting this compensation when some doesn’t fifa id and other structures required by FCH?”
@VokeVukugbe wrote: “The funniest thing this information is available on the FIFA site and all members associations have this information. In Nigeria, players are not registered properly with the NFF to enable them to document the player’s EPP. NFF needs to do a lot regarding the EPP.”
@iam_norby wrote: “Our NFF aren’t doing the academy well if so. With how poorly funded our local leagues are and the pay the players receive, payment like this shouldn’t escape them.”
