TO THE MEMBERS OF FIFA

Circular no. 1354

Zurich, 3 May 2013 SG/mav/oon

Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players - Categorisation of clubs and registration periods

Dear Sir or Madam,

Like every year, we once again refer to Annexe 4, and in particular art. 4 of the said Annexe of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (hereinafter: the Regulations), as well as to art. 6 par. 1 and 2 of the Regulations, regarding compensating clubs for the training of young players, classifying clubs into categories and fixing registration periods in your association respectively. In this respect, we also refer you to Annexe 3 of the Regulations, and in particular to its art. 5 . 1 par. 1 and 2, and would like to emphasise that with the implementation of the transfer matching system (TMS) which is now mandatory for all member associations of FIFA, the notification of the registration periods fixed by your association as well as the categorisation of clubs that are participating in TMS, as established by your association, is now conducted exclusively via the TMS . For clubs that are not participating in TMS (such as purely amateur clubs), notification of categorisation is to be conducted by written communication to the FIFA Players' Status and Governance Department.

1 Training compensation

With regard to training compensation , the Regulations stipulate that each assoclatlon must classify its clubs into different categories based on the extent of each c1ub's expenditure for training young players. The category specified must be reviewed every year. The enclosed table shows the categories into which the associations in each confederation are required to divide their clubs and the amount of compensation applicable to the various club categories in each confederation.

Please ensure that, once again, you classify your clubs into the categories shown in the table. If all of your clubs come under category IV, you will not need to c1assify any. FIFA will publish the compensation for training in the various categories and the club classifications of each association on the FIFA website .

Each association is kindly requested to insert the relevant data concerning the categorisation of its affiliated clubs concerned into the TMS by no later than 1 July 2013. Please do not use any other form or means to notify your clubs' categorisation, unless the club is not listed in the TMS . In the latter case, notification of categorisation by means of written communication to the FIFA Players' Status and Governance Department is to be conducted within the same deadline . As regards clubs participating in TMS, we would like to point out that only the categorisation of clubs inserted into the TMS will be taken into consideration and will prevail over any conflicting categorisation received for a TMS-participating club through other means.

In this regard, please be informed that in the event that you do not complete the relevant categorisation of your affiliated clubs in the TMS by the above-mentioned deadline, further proceedings imposing appropriate measures against your association will be evaluated. We refer you in particular to the FIFA TMS administrative sanction procedure outlined in FIFA circular no. 1259 of 7- April 2011.

2 Registration periods

Furthermore, each association is kindly requested to insert the two annual registration periods it has fixed for the next calendar year, i.e. as of 1 January 2014, in accordance with art. 6 par. 1 and 2 of the Regulations into the TMS by no later than 1 July 2013 or, in the event that your association's current season finishes after that date, immediately following the last day of the current season. Please do not use any other form or means to notify your association's registration periods. In particular, do not reply in writing to this circular letter. We remind you that all associations must specify general registration periods, irrespective of the status of your association's affiliated clubs or their transfer activity to date.

According to art. 6 par. 2 in conjunction with art. 5.1 par. 1 of Annexe 3 of the Regulations, the two registration periods for the season shall be communicated to FIFA via the TMS at least 12 months before they come into force. As a result, within the above-mentioned time limit, your association is required to insert into the TMS all registration periods applicable at least until 31 December 2014.

In this respect, we wish to remind you that art. 6 par. 2 of the Regulations states that the first registration period begins after completion of the season and normally ends before the beginning of the new season. This period may not exceed twelve weeks. The second registration period normally occurs in the middle of the season and may not exceed four weeks. However, with regard to the second registration period, aperiod of one calendar month (therefore slightly more than four weeks) has been recognised in practice so far. FIFA does not permit these time limits to be prolonged for organisational or any other reasons.

When fixing your registration periods, particular attention should be given to their end date. Should it coincide with a holiday or non-business day in your country, you will not be able to extend the duration of the relevant registration period to the first subsequent business day if by means of the envisaged extension the entire duration of the registration period in question would exceed the maximum duration in the above-described sense.

In the event that you do not complete the notification of your association's registration periods in the TMS by the above-mentioned deadline, FIFA itself may set the dates for your association . Furthermore, proceedings imposing appropriate measures against your association will be evaluated. Once again, we refer you in particular to the FIFA circular no. 1259. Abiding by the registration periods is absolutely essential to implementing the Regulations, so no exceptions may be made to this rule.

We would like to emphasise that it is the sole responsibility of the TMS manager of each association to make sure that the pertinent registration periods are properly inserted into the system in accordance with the decisions of the association. Only the dates included in the TMS will be considered, irrespective of divergent communications made outside the TMS.

Furthermore, we would like to point out that the TMS manager of the association is responsible for the accuracy of the data inserted into the system. Under exceptional circumstances, the respective TMS manager may change the dates of a registration period, however only in the circumstances where the registration period in question has not yet started. No alteration will be possible once the registration period inserted into the TMS has commenced. It goes without saying that the system will only allow registration periods in accordance with art. 6 par. 2 of the Regulations.

In this respect, we would like to remind you that, pursuant to art. 9.1 par. 3 of Annexe 3 of the Regulations, associations are liable for the actions and information entered by their TMS managers.

Finally, on a side note, we would like to inform you that in case your association would like to fix separate registration periods for its pure amateur competitions, i.e. competitions in which only amateurs participate, on the basis of art. 6 par. 4 of the Regulations, it is invited to inform FIFA of the relevant dates by means of a respective correspondence, again by no later than 1 July 2013. In fact, such possible registration periods cannot to be inserted in the TMS.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions in connection with any of the above.

We thank you for your valuable collaboration.

Yours faithfully,

FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE
DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

Markus Kattner
Deputy Secretary General
Encl. as mentioned
ce: FIFA Executive Committee
Players' Status Committee
Dispute Resolution Chamber
Confederations

Training Costs and Categorisation of clubs for the year 2013

The training costs listed hereunder are established on a confederation basis for each category of clubs. In accordance with art. 6 of the Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players, these training costs w ill be updated at the end of every calendar year.

In continuation, you will find a table for each confederation, setting out the categories in which each association is asked to allocate its clubs. No allocation will be required if all your clubs fall under category 4.
Index:
Table 1 - AFC
Table 2 - CAF
Table 3 - CONCACAF
Table 4 - CONMEBOL
Table 5 - OFC
Table 6 - UEFA