Historic agreement of Al Khelaifi

Coinciding with the ECA General Assembly in Budapest, the Association of Clubs, with Al Khelaïfi at the helm, and FIFA, with the presence of Infantino, announced to great fanfare the agreement for the transfer of international players until 2030. The previous one had expired on December 31 and was not renewed, which left a dangerous legal vacuum for the national federations.

The new memorandum definitively unlocks the recent tensions between the two institutions and will make it possible, above all, for the main teams in Europe to participate in the new and revamped FIFA Club World Cup with 32 members that starts in 2025. Also in the annual tournament that will measure the champion of the Champions League with the winner of a playoff between the champions of the other federations.

The president of the ECA, Nasser Al Khelaïfi, who in turn is from PSG, has been of great importance in the negotiations. After the positions seemed to be very far apart in the FIFA executive committee held in Doha during the World Cuppeace was staged during the Congress a few days ago in Rwanda and has had its signature in Budapest with Al Khelaïfi, Infantino and Ceferin present and giving an image of unity between institutions that was hard to remember.

A few weeks ago the new international calendar that integrated the FIFA club competitions was announced. That has only been possible because of the new memorandum of understanding, through which the clubs will get more money for giving their players to the national teams. If a consensus had not been reached, it would have been possible at a legal level for the teams not to yield to the internationals. The endowment of the Aid Program for Clubs, which compensates those teams that loan their players to the teams participating in the World Cup, It will increase from the 209 million euros reserved for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to 355 million for the 2026 and 2030 editions.

Both ECA and FIFA consider that the agreement was necessary and allows for greater stability for the coming years, in which FIFA has great faith in the new Club World Cup every four years and for which Real Madrid already knows that its ticket is guaranteed in the first edition of 2025.