The Council of the Malta Football Association voted in favour of amendments to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players during a meeting which was held on Monday.

Thanks to these amendments, clubs will no longer have to pay the parameters for players who are out-of-contract. Nursery compensation has also been abolished while training compensation for amateur players will be paid before the first registration as professionals.

The key changes concerning professional players include:
• Free movement for out-of-contract professional players
• Transfer parameters have been abolished
• Removal of the ‘Transfer List’
• New compensation mechanism for breach of contract where there is no agreement between the club and the player
• Reduction of training compensation co-efficients
• Harmonisation with FIFA regulations

The key changes concerning amateur players include:
• Removal of nursery compensation
• Parameters have been abolished
• Removal of the ‘Transfer List’
• Training compensation to be paid before first registration as professional
• Players aged over 19 at the end of the obligatory registration period have until 31st July to request to be released/registered with another club

In a joint-statement, the Malta Football Association and the clubs’ standing committees of all divisions in the National League expressed their satisfaction at the milestone decision regarding the important amendments to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players as approved during the video-conference meeting of the Association’s Council.

“The abolition of the transfer fees for out-of-contract players, previously established through a transfer parameters system, is among the most conspicuous amendments approved unanimously today, a landmark moment for Maltese football. It is the culmination of a long consultation process, spanning several years and involving domestic social partners and international stakeholders, including FIFA, UEFA, FIFPro, the European Club Association (ECA) and the European Leagues.”

“Locally, most of the discussions have taken place during the regular meetings of the Social Dialogue Committee which is made up of representatives of clubs (employers) and players (employees).“

“This process has also been completed within the timeframe set by FIFA in an evaluation report sent to the Malta FA a few months ago.“

In another statement, the Malta Football Players Association said this was a day of joy and celebration. The MFPA thanked all all those involved in this, especially MFA officials who formed part of the social dialogue board and the club representatives.

The MFPA added that this milestone, was one of the original reasons for the very foundation of MFPA. The founding members, were players themselves, burdened with an archaic system that was designed to hold them back.

“As outsiders to the MFA establishment, with no voting power, effecting real change did not come easy for us. Since our inception in 2011, every inch of progress we made was hard fought and strenuously opposed. The abolishment of the Parameters is perhaps the biggest and most hard-fought victory yet.”