Nightmare for Chelsea as FIFA outlines new loan regulations
Robin Bairner
- 20 Jan 2022 15:05 GMT
- 3 min read
FIFA Has announced its intention to implement new loan regulations that will prevent clubs stockpiling large numbers of players.
Most notably, Chelsea have built their transfer strategy in recent years around having a massive squad and developing their young players by sending them out on loans. For example, 10 players from the Blues’ first-team squad are presently away from the club on loan, plus many more from their youth ranks.
The Blues have become so accustomed to this way of working, their players away from the club have become known as their ‘loan army’, due to their numbers.
Manchester City are similar offenders, with 10 players out on loan this season, including three at satellite club Troyes in France.
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In years to come, FIFA has pledged to put the brakes on this practise, having deemed it unhealthy for the state of the game.
In a press release on Thursday, world football’s governing body stated: “Following the decision passed by the FIFA Football Stakeholders Committee last year, the new regulations concerning loans of players in international football are now ready to be implemented. They will be submitted to the FIFA Council for approval at its next meeting with a view to their entering into force on 1 July 2022.”
What are the new loan regulations?
There will be new limits on the number of players clubs can loan out per season, with the aim of reducing this figure to six by 1 July, 2024.
FIFA stated: “To ensure that this is implemented smoothly, there will be a transitional period as follows:
From 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, a club may have a maximum of eight professionals loaned out and eight loaned in at any given time during a season.
From 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, the same configuration applies but with a maximum of seven professionals.
Finally, from 1 July 2024, the same configuration will apply but limited to a maximum of six professionals.”
There are two notable caveats to these rules. Firstly, players aged 21 or younger will not count towards these figures and neither will players over this age but trained at the parent club.
One point of concern is how these new regulations can clamp down on the City Football Group (CFG), which has a network of clubs that players could potentially be ‘transferred’ between.
FIFA member associations will be given three years to implement rules for a loan system in line with the governing body’s outlines, which will force the likes of Chelsea to reassess their transfer policy.
