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Club-to-club payments in TMS are typically made by the new club to the former club in exchange for the transfer of a player. These payments are declared through an Engage/Release against payment transfer instruction, and the new club uploads the corresponding proofs of payment. Such transfers trigger the creation of an Electronic Player Passport (EPP), and each proof of payment uploaded generates an allocation statement for solidarity contribution. For more information, see “Solidarity mechanism”.
In some transfers, however, a payment may be made by the former club to the new club. This is known as a reverse payment. As reverse payments should not trigger solidarity contribution, they must not be declared or evidenced using the standard payment submission process.
Declaring reverse payments
There are three types of payments that can be declared in a transfer:
- Fixed transfer fee
- Conditional transfer fee
- Sell-on fee
When declaring any payment agreed between the parties, each instalment must include the recipient of the payment. For reverse payments, clubs must ensure that the new club is selected as the recipient for every relevant instalment.
It is also essential that both clubs select the same recipient (the new club) in their respective Engaging and Releasing transfer instructions.
Uploading proofs of payment
Once the transfer has been confirmed and reaches “Closed – Awaiting Payments” or “On Loan – Awaiting Payments” status, the former club is responsible for uploading the proofs of payment for each reverse payment instalment.
To avoid triggering solidarity contribution, proofs of payment must not be uploaded in the Club payments tab using the Add payment button next to the instalment, as would be done for a standard club-to-club payment.
Instead, the former club must:
- Select Upload documents.
- Upload the proof of payment under the Other document category.
Uploading the proof of payment in this way prevents the generation of allocation statements for solidarity contribution.
Note: If a proof of payment is incorrectly submitted through the Club payments tab and an allocation statement is generated, any resulting solidarity contribution obligation will remain payable once the allocation statement becomes final and binding. It is therefore essential that reverse payment proofs are uploaded only through Upload documents > Other.
Forced closure of the transfer
Once all reverse payment instalments have been paid and the corresponding proofs of payment have been uploaded, with no further payments outstanding, the former club should request a forced closure of the transfer.
The new club must then review and confirm the forced closure request. Once confirmed, the transfer status changes from “Closed – Awaiting Payments” to “Closed” or from “On Loan – Awaiting Payments” to “On Loan – Awaiting Conclusion”.
As this action cannot be undone, both clubs should carefully review the transfer and ensure that all applicable payments and supporting documentation have been correctly recorded before proceeding.
Other payments that follow the same process
The same procedure must be followed when uploading proofs of payment for:
- Payments of solidarity contribution or training compensation made through the FIFA Clearing House (FCH);
- Payments of the remaining amount of transfer compensation made directly to the former club (top-up payments).
Each proof of payment uploaded to a transfer instruction will trigger the generation of an allocation statement and may consequently trigger the payment of the solidarity contribution. It is important that payments that should not trigger solidarity contribution, that is, those listed above, are not declared in the “Payments” section to avoid incorrect allocation statements from being generated.