Watching the Bam Creative Night Series over the weekend as usual Football West was copping a lot of stick for supposedly changing the rules in relation to transfers in the state league. Before throwing any mud we thought that it was best to check at the source what was actually happening, and as suspected the criticism was unfair and people sadly had their wires crossed.
It transpires that FIFA has now completely rolled out the TMS (Transfer Matching System) across all national associations. The TMS is used for international clearances for professional players when transferring between clubs of two different national associations and FIFA has directed that all national associations adhere to the same registration windows for ITC (International Transfer Certificate).
The FFA is being dictated to by FIFA, and as a result has advised all state bodies that they must adhere to the transfer window when clubs sign overseas players.
This rule only applies to professional players who are playing in another country and who are being signed to a professional contract here. It doesn’t apply to interstate players. It doesn’t apply to any amateurs, either oversees, interstate or local players.
Hopefully now that this has been cleared up the abuse for Football West will abate and we can all enjoy the Bam Creative Night Series.
