Today, at the end of the Council meeting, FIFA announced that it had given the individual Federations the possibility of opening an additional transfer window from 1st to 10th July. Gianni Infantino and his men have launched this rule as part of the discussions regarding the new Club World Cup which will be staged for the first time next summer, in the United States, from 15 June to 13 July.
But why this turning point?
The decision was made in the interest of the clubs that will participate in the competition. In those ten days, in fact, the 32 clubs will be able to register players who will then be fielded in the matches that will be staged in the USA. The individual Federations will decide on this additional window, therefore in the case of Italy the FIGC.
It is clear that in Italy it will be Inter and Juventus, the two Serie A clubs that will take part in the Club World Cup, who will follow the developments of this affair. For the other clubs, however, the opening of an extra window in June would change little . Because they could already deposit a contract in those days, but at most it would be used to pay an extra month’s salary in view of a new season which for all the other Italian teams will start in August anyway. Furthermore, in June, the contracts of the players expiring on 30 June could not even be deposited: for the freed players it will be necessary to wait for the end of the previous agreement, therefore from 1 July onwards.
FIFA announced this decision with this statement: “The FIFA Council has unanimously approved the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ Regulations, which seek to resolve technical inconsistencies and compensate for differences in entry periods and domestic season calendars between participating clubs in the to the greatest possible extent, while ensuring flexibility for the FIFA Member Associations in question.
According to the regulations, FIFA Member Associations of clubs participating in the FIFA Club World Cup™ will have the possibility to open an exceptional registration window from 1 to 10 June 2025 (for all their affiliated clubs) before the start of the competition. The decision to open or not an additional window remains at the sole discretion of each affected FIFA Member Association.”
Those who participate in the Club World Cup will then have the opportunity to modify their list if an agreement is not reached with the players whose contracts expire on 30 June: “After the deadline for submitting squad lists has expired, as the contracts of some players will expire halfway through the competition, participating clubs will be able to replace players during a limited period in the competition, from 27 June to 3 July 2025, within a limit pre-established and according to specific limitations, including the fact that a “standard” registration window must be open for the club at that time. However, the aim is to encourage clubs and players whose contracts are expiring to find an appropriate solution to facilitate player participation.”