Professional football is no longer immune to sophisticated financial arrangements.
The most recent example concerns Mason Greenwood. When he moved from Getafe CF to Manchester United, the parties agreed to reserve a share of the proceeds from any future transfer of the player for the Spanish club(1).
However, one question remains: can this share be sold or transferred to a third party?
1. The contractual arrangement allowing several clubs to hold rights over the same player
FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) make a fundamental distinction between sporting rights and economic rights(2).
Under Article 5 of the RSTJ, sporting rights refer to a club’s right to register a player with an association so that he may participate in an official competition(3).
Conversely, economic rights refer to the right to receive all or part of the compensation associated with a future transfer of the player. This is a financial right, distinct from the right of registration.
This distinction allows for sophisticated contractual arrangements: one club may hold the sporting rights and thus utilise the player in sporting terms, whilst another retains a contractual percentage of any future transfer fee.
The example of Ousmane Dembélé’s transfer from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain illustrates this: when his release clause was activated, a significant portion of the fee paid by the Parisian club would have gone to the player and his agent(4).
2. The transfer of a player’s economic rights
In professional football, contractual freedom comes up against a clear boundary: Article 18ter of the RSTJ(5).
Indeed, whilst a club may negotiate a share of the proceeds from a future transfer, it cannot freely transfer this share to any purchaser. Article 18ter of the RSTJ is strict: it is prohibited to transfer these economic rights to a third party not involved in the transfer transaction(6).
This restriction has been the subject of criticism, particularly in Spain, where several historic clubs, such as FC Barcelona(7) or FC Sevilla(8) which are in a precarious financial position, might see the sale of economic rights as a valuable source of liquidity. Some even view it as a barrier to competition that could be challenged under Articles 101 and 102 of the TFEU.
The case of Getafe CF perfectly illustrates this tension. Currently a La Liga side, the club retains economic rights over Mason Greenwood following his transfer to Manchester United. If Getafe were to seek to monetise this claim today, the pool of potential buyers would be legally restricted:
the player himself;
Manchester United;
or Olympique de Marseille, his current club.
In an increasingly financialised football landscape, only the parties involved in the transfer deal can buy back these rights. In the case of Getafe FC, the potential buyers can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
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