FIFA has held further talks over its proposed Global Player Exchange (GPX) concept, which it states will“revolutionise” the transfer market by helping clubs to avoid using agents.
The talks were held as FIFA’s Committee for Club Football staged its first meeting of 2013 on Tuesday. GPX is currently being developed by FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS) in connection with the rollout of a series of premium services. FIFA said that the new optional services would have the same core aim of improving transparency. The governing body added that a total of 11,555 international transfers took place in 2012, with the average rate of commission paid by clubs to “intermediaries” standing ataround 28%. The GPX platform will seek to provide a secure and private service through which subscribing clubs will be able to access market information and interact with each other. The new service will also allow clubs to search for information on players, including their availability.
A FIFA statement read: “Extensive stakeholder consultation has shown that most clubs have limited resources for accessing information on the professional player pool and often have to rely on intermediaries, thus increasing club costs.” FIFA TMS is currently planning the implementation of GPX with multiple stakeholders, including clubs and member associations. “This will revolutionise the international and national transfer system,” added Committee for Club Football chairman Jacques Anouma.
Tuesday’s meeting also broached the thorny subject of third-party ownership (TPO) of players. The committee was advised on the current situation with regard to analysing the various regulatory approaches on TPO of players’ economic rights at national level, with detailed assessments currently being conducted – including a legal risk analysis. FIFA said that a recent International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) study was presented, indicating that 15% of licensed agents in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain have entered into TPO arrangements. FIFA added: “It was reiterated by the committee that a consistent global solution must be found to ensure the integrity of the game.”
