Change period

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In football, transfer periods or transfer windows are the periods in which a player can move to a new club (so-called transfer ). The establishment of exactly two exchange periods per year with a length of twelve weeks between two seasons and four weeks at the beginning of the second half of the season is required by FIFA . Within large parts of UEFA , the periods for the formal start of the season on July 1 to August 31 ( changeover period I ) and in winter at the beginning of the calendar year from January 1 to 31 ( changeover period II ) have been established for the two transfer windows . the exact dates may vary slightly; for example, when August 31st or January 31st falls on a Sunday.

In many other sports there are also such transfer periods, also with regard to a change of nation.

Situation in Germany

In Germany, the change periods for amateur and contract players have been uniformly regulated since the 1990s: Similar to the largely uniform periods in the UEFA area, the transfer periods are also set accordingly in the amateur area. The changeover periods in the amateur classes are set accordingly for the periods from July 1st to August 31st and from January 1st to 31st. In years in which the end of the transfer period does not fall on a banking day , the period is usually extended to the first following banking day.

Due to the corona pandemic, the German Football Association , in coordination with FIFA , made a time adjustment for the 2020 summer transfer window. It will initially only open for a single day (July 1, 2020). There will then be a second time window from July 15 to October 5, 2020.

Players who were not obliged to join a club at the end of changeover period I may also join a club before the start of changeover period II.

The other regulations for the transfer of a player are set out in the relevant game regulations of the federal and state associations. In German professional football , the applications must be submitted to the German Football League by 12 p.m. and the complete contract documents by 6 p.m. on the last day of the transition period . Until 2015, the prerequisite for a change of a player active in Germany was that the player had previously been on the DFL's transfer list . In 2015, the non-public online system TOR was introduced, which makes the transfer list no longer necessary.

Different transfer windows in other countries

In the summer of 2008, a deviation made headlines in France when the French national association set the start of the transfer window on May 25th. Since the hoped-for exemption from FIFA did not materialize, the transfer window had to be closed after twelve weeks, which is why the French clubs could only sign players until August 17th.

In 2009 there were discussions, especially in Sweden , because the rule for associations playing in the calendar year (the season runs from January 1st to December 31st - this is especially common in northern states to make better use of the long days of summer) means that the long, twelve-week transfer period falls in winter and only one month is available for transfers in summer. The clubs risk that important players change after the end of the one-month transfer window without being able to sign a replacement. A proposal drawn up in cooperation between Svensk Elitfotboll and Svenska Fotbollförbundet with a split of eight weeks each was rejected by FIFA. The summer transfer period in Sweden was therefore also set to close on August 31.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b License regulations for players (LOS) ( Memento from June 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Rules of the game. (pdf) German Football Association , accessed on March 2, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Transfer list and "TOR": The history. In: DFL German Football League GmbH - dfl.de. Retrieved on July 7, 2020 (German).
  4. ↑ In France, the transfer closes on August 17th. Focus Online , July 6, 2008, accessed November 27, 2013 .
  5. ↑ HIF vill skjuta på transferfönstret. (No longer available online.) Hd.se, June 2, 2009, archived from the original on December 2, 2013 ; Retrieved November 27, 2013 (Swedish).
  6. ↑ Transfer hairdryers bestäms av FIFA. svenskelitfotboll.se, archived from the original on March 25, 2012 ; Retrieved November 27, 2013 (Swedish).