FIFA's January 2027 RSTP: 5% transfer-fee share for players and a rewritten breach-of-contract regime

FIFA has published the long-term rewrite of its transfer rules that follows the Court of Justice of the European Union's October 2024 judgment in the Lassana Diarra case. Circular no. 1970 of 1 September 2026 sets out the amendments to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP), which enter into force on 1 January 2027.

The headline for players and their agents is a new Article 21bis: the regulations now give players a direct, mandatory share of the transfer fee paid for them when they earn below a set threshold.

A 5% share of the fee for lower-paid players

Clubs and players remain free to agree on any participation in a transfer fee. But in permanent international transfers a mandatory rule applies to players earning less than a yearly fixed remuneration of EUR 150,000 (or its equivalent) with the releasing club in the season of the transfer: "The releasing club must pay an amount equal to 5% of the total fixed transfer fee effectively received directly to the player."

The player may partially waive that share, but it can never fall below the higher of the player's fixed remuneration for the last contract year with the releasing club, or 2.5% of the total fixed transfer compensation. If the fee is paid in instalments, the share follows them pro rata and is subject to tax and social security deductions.

No entitlement arises where national law, domestic regulations in force when the rules are adopted, or a valid collective bargaining agreement prohibit it or already provide a similar concept. FIFA has jurisdiction over disputes about the share when the transfer is between clubs of different associations.

Breach of contract: Article 17 rewritten

Article 17, the provision at the heart of the Diarra case, now sets a more detailed framework. Parties may fix compensation for breach in the contract; it need not be reciprocal, and the Football Tribunal reduces it "with restraint and only if it is excessively high". For players with a yearly fixed remuneration of up to USD 150,000 (or its equivalent), agreed compensation payable to the player must at least equal the residual value of the breached contract, unless exceptional circumstances justify less.

Absent an agreed amount, the injured party gets full compensation for the damage caused: for a player, in particular the residual value of the contract; for a club, the value of the player's services, a lost transfer fee or transfer value and replacement costs. As a principle, both sides always receive at least the residual value of the contract; abusive conduct adds a penalty of up to six monthly salaries.

The new club is jointly and severally liable only if it is established on a balance of probabilities that it induced the breach. If the player signs a new contract within 45 days of the breach, inducement is presumed, though the new club can rebut this.

Sporting sanctions against clubs are now graded within a two-year recidivism period: a warning and a fine for a first breach during the protected period, a limit of five new registrations for one window for a second, a one-window registration ban for a third and a two-window ban for a fourth. A club that induced a breach during the protected period receives a two-window ban directly. For players, the sanction remains a four-month restriction on official matches, six with aggravating circumstances. The protected period is now tied to the player's age at signing: four seasons or years before the 23rd birthday, three before 28, two before 32 and one from 32 onward.

Clubs: what counts as abuse, and five-year deals for under-18s

Article 14 paragraph 3 lists conduct a club may not use against a player: abusing registration or deregistration as pressure, separating a player from team training abusively, withholding a passport, or unduly evicting a player from their home.

Article 18 keeps the three-year cap on professional contracts for under-18s but adds an exception. Where the player has been registered with the club for 20 months or two consecutive competition periods (whichever is shorter) before signing, the term may be up to five years, unless national law or a collective agreement prohibits it. Such contracts are capped at five per club per season and must carry fixed-pay increases: at least 10% in the fourth year, plus 20% if the player makes ten or more first-team appearances in year three, and 20% in the fifth year under the same test for year four.

Interest, ITCs and social dialogue

New Article 23 paragraph 5 sets 8% per annum as the standard interest on overdue payables or outstanding remuneration awarded by the Football Tribunal, subject to a request by the claimant and without prejudice to a contractually agreed rate.

In Annexe 3, the former association must deliver the ITC within five calendar days; if it does not respond, the new association may register the player.

Article 1 now records that FIFA "shall not amend these regulations without agreement between employees, employers and FIFA", except for Annexe 1.

From when

The new RSTP apply to cases where the facts giving rise to the dispute arose after 1 January 2027. Article 17 paragraph 1 (agreed compensation) and Article 21bis (transfer-fee share) apply only to contracts concluded as of that date; all other cases are assessed under the previous regulations.