Foreign players and coaches can temporarily leave Ukrainian and Russian Clubs to sign for new teams in a special window transfer opened by FIFA, the International Federation for Football announced on Monday, adding to the suspension of contracts of foreign players and coaches at the Ukrainian Clubs. This is a measure to protect foreign players temporarily in Ukraine and Russia amid the ongoing crisis between the two western countries. The deadline for signing with the new clubs under the transfer window lies till 30th June 2022.
The FIFA statement stated that the players and coaches will be considered ‘out of contract’ until 30th June 2022 and will therefore have the option to sign for a different club without facing consequences of any sort. The special window transfer will let the respective athletes and coaches join the new club by April 7th, even if, the registration period is closed in the club association for the admission of a new contract.
But the same option is announced with an exception: only two players may be admitted to the same club under the new transfer window to ‘further protect the integrity of the competitions’, said FIFA in the statement. However, the new rule was not fully welcomed by other international bodies, FIFPRO, the International Federation of Professional Footballers, a worldwide representative organisation for 65,000 professional footballers, said that the move was ‘too timid’ and also added, “It will be hard for players to find employment for the remainder of the season with uncertainty looming over them and, within a few weeks, they will be in a very difficult situation once again”.
Meanwhile few foreign players have already terminated their contracts at the Russian clubs including a few managers and coaches as well. It came in response to the suspension of Russia’s national and club teams by FIFA and UEFA amid the Russian invasion. But the new transfer window option is set to give these players the liberty of an alternative, even with their future being at stake.
