FIFA proposes special transfer window for Club World Cup teams

ZURICH (AP) — FIFA has agreed on interim transfer rules aiming to help players change teams and go to the Club World Cup in the United States next June-July.

The move on Thursday opens the door for players whose contracts expire on June 30 to sign early as free agents for one of the 32 teams who qualified for the relaunched FIFA club tournament. They include Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.

Potential free agents who could be pursued by Club World Cup teams include Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, plus Lille forward Jonathan David and Tottenham captain Son Heung-min.

FIFA’s council approved interim transfer market rules that give member federations the option of opening an exceptional transfer window from June 1-10.

If agreements are reached between clubs, the FIFA transfer amendments would let players represent a new team for two weeks from mid-June, before their formal contract expires, in a tournament that is technically still part of the current season.

Had the Club World Cup been scheduled this year, Kylian Mbappé’s pending free agency on June 30 would have complicated the issue of him going to the U.S. as a PSG or Madrid player.

FIFA’s aim to help get players to the Club World Cup also could see those with expiring contracts sign a two-week extension through to the end of the June 15-July 13 event.

Star players at Club World Cup teams with contracts expiring in June include Man City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Bayern teammates Alphonso Davies and Joshua Kimmich.

FIFA suggested short-term extensions could be “an appropriate solution” to let players take part, while also offering a June 27-July 3 window to change a team’s tournament squad list and replace players whose contracts expire without a renewal.

Players cannot represent two different teams during the tournament being staged in 12 stadiums.

FIFA also agreed on an exemption to the long-time rule that clubs must release players to national duty for games and tournaments on dates protected by the calendar of international games.

That affects U.S. and Mexico players who might have been called up for the Gold Cup, also being played in the U.S. from June 14-July 6.

The Club World Cup lineup includes Seattle Sounders, Leon, Monterrey and Pachuca as the past four champions of the CONCACAF region.

One more space is left open for an MLS team to represent the host nation. It is unclear if that place could go to Lionel Messi’s club Inter Miami.

FIFA previously amended transfer market rules in 2020 when the soccer shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic extended the traditional season from June into August.

In one notable transfer four years ago, Germany forward Timo Werner declined an option to stay with Leipzig and resume in the Champions League knockout rounds in August. He instead moved to Chelsea on schedule, though could not play until the next season.

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