FIFA Asks For Ban On Investors Owning Transfer Rights To Players

FIFA said that it will "consider a request to stop investors from buying stakes in the transfer rights of players," according to Alex Duff of BLOOMBERG. Southern European clubs including Porto, Benfica and Atletico Madrid are "selling the stakes as banks shut off credit." The practice, "known as third-party ownership" in English football, was banned by the EPL in '07 after it obstructed Argentine striker Carlos Tevez’s move to ManU. FIFA’s Football Committee, led by UEFA President Michel Platini, asked the Zurich-based ruling body’s administration to "submit a proposal by the end of March." Platini has said that the practice is "draining clubs of their wealth" (BLOOMBERG, 11/16).