Soccer clubs worldwide paid $125 million in money owed from player transfers, $200M more in backlog

ZURICH — Soccer clubs worldwide have been paid $125 million in money owed to them from transfers of their former players, FIFA said Wednesday, with money routed via its finance house in Paris, and there’s a backlog of another almost $200 million.

A further $31.7 million has been agreed but not sent yet.

The payments are being allocated to more than 5,000 grassroots and professional clubs by the FIFA Clearing House.

FIFA published an update on two years of work by the clearing house, which started in November 2022 to bring more transparency to the often murky multi-billion dollar transfer industry. It also tries to ensure smaller clubs get cash they are owed from future sales of players they nurtured.

When Moisés Caicedo made a British transfer record move from Brighton to Chelsea last year, his former clubs in Ecuador were entitled to share millions of dollars from the 115 million pounds or $145 million fee.

The money routed by FIFA “was a dream,” the president of CD Espoli, Lenín Bolaños, said in the FIFA report, with plans to pay for a practice ground, medical clinic and a gym.

Some parts of the FIFA transfer market rules in place since 2001 are under review after a European court ruling last month in a case brought by former France midfielder Lassana Diarra.

The current FIFA system entitles players’ former clubs who trained them between the ages of 12 and 21 to share up to 5% of a future transfer fee.

However, clubs often were unaware a transfer had gone through or did not have the expertise or resources to pursue a claim. Now the online process is managed by the FIFA finance house which notifies buying clubs of approved payments that must be made within 30 days.

The wealthiest buying markets England and Saudi Arabia have paid the most in so-called “training rewards” FIFA said -$50.1 million and $18.7 million, respectively, in the past two years.

The leading net recipients have been clubs in the Netherlands ($8.7 million), France ($7.8 million) and Argentina ($7.1 million).

One reason for the backlog is that clubs are not compliant with the system, the FIFA report said. It said at least 1,600 clubs in more than 100 countries are accredited.

“There are still important challenges ahead and areas for improvement,” FIFA chief legal officer Emilio García said in the 52-page report.