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International Football

Premier League Clubs Vote To Close Transfer Window Before Season Starts

Premier League clubs voted to close next summer's transfer window "before the start of the season," according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. The change was voted through at a meeting of the 20 club chairs and means the window "will shut on the Thursday evening before the start of next season." The proposal needed two-thirds of clubs to back the move and 14 voted in favor, while five voted against, with one abstention. With one club abstaining, "it needed 13 votes in order to be passed." It is a "permanent change and would need another vote for it to be altered in the future." It will only affect Premier League clubs signing players -- "they can still sell players to other leagues." Premier League Exec Chair Richard Scudamore said, "Some clubs absolutely believe that you should kick off the season at least with the players you have got. They all fully understand that this is about buying -- you can only stop people from signing, you can't stop people selling if other leagues have a different window" (LONDON TIMES, 9/7). In London, Samuel Lovett reported a number of "high-profile Premier League managers," including Arsenal's Arsène Wenger, have complained that the transfer window "causes disruption to their squads and preparations heading into a new season." Wenger this week voiced his support for the change as he called for greater "clarity." He said, "Many things happen in the last second, which I regret. That's why I believe it's important that we change that and close all that stuff before the championship starts" (INDEPENDENT, 9/7).

NEXT IN LINE: In London, Martha Kelner reported those opposed to the rule change "worry Premier League clubs will be left short if their players are bought after the domestic window shuts" and they are unable to replace them. Although "no specific cases were cited in discussions," closing the window before the start of the domestic season would also avoid the situation that arose when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played in Arsenal's 4-0 defeat at Liverpool before joining the Merseyside club less than a week later. Liverpool's "refusal to sell Philippe Coutinho" to Barcelona reportedly "convinced detractors that the Premier League could make a unilateral move without the rest of Europe." Germany's top tier "is most likely to follow suit." The Bundesliga hosted a general meeting of club managers on Thursday where the issue was discussed, "although it is understood opinion varied widely" (GUARDIAN, 9/7). The BBC reported the "early finish will not mean the Premier League's transfer window is shorter as it will start earlier and be 12 weeks long," in line with FIFA rules. Next summer "is slightly different from normal," with the '18-19 season following the World Cup, which finishes on July 15. Premier League clubs "can still do business during the tournament, but will now have only 25 days after its conclusion in which to complete signings." ManU Manager José Mourinho "stressed the fact European clubs would have a wider opportunity to do business would not be a disadvantage for English clubs." He said, "The risk is minimal and even those powerful clubs have to know if we can't buy players we're not going to sell." Juventus Dir General Giuseppe Marotta backed the decision by EPL clubs and said that he "wants Serie A to follow suit." Marotta said that it was "a decision that I had been waiting for." AS Roma Sporting Dir Monchi also said that the move was a "right and logical decision" (BBC, 9/7). REUTERS' Simon Evans reported the Football League, which includes the second, third and fourth tiers of English football, "has not yet changed" its window "but a similar change is on the agenda" for a meeting of Football League clubs on Sept. 21 (REUTERS, 9/7). ESPN.com reported transfer windows "have been a fixture in the football calendar" since '02, when FIFA "made them compulsory after lengthy talks with the European Commission on the game's transfer system." They were "intended as a compromise between the clubs' desire for contractual certainty on the one hand, and the players' rights to freedom of movement on the other" (ESPN.com, 9/7).

ON THE OTHER HAND: In London, Miguel Delaney commented from one perspective, it is "easy to see why" 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs voted in favor of "closing the transfer window before the season begins." It forces all of those clubs to "get their business done early," and means that business will not "influence the first few matches in the way that has been so conspicuous at the start of this campaign." The football itself "will be the sole focus." Or, "at least, it will be the focus in theory." Because, from the other perspective, it is "just as easy to see why one club abstained and the other five clubs voted against the move." This decision "throws up a lot of potential complications, even if it notionally makes the start of the season that bit less muddled." It could "actually make things worse." For a start, it can only stop English clubs from buying. The new regulation just cannot "work as intended" until the deadline is more continentally standardized. Closing the window earlier "could allow bigger foreign clubs to string their English counterparts along; to leverage the very regulations against them." There is a "much more base football concern, too." Some of the thinking behind the window initially closing at the start of September rather than the end or midpoint of August "was because it allowed a period of grace for managers to assess their squad" (INDEPENDENT, 9/7).

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