Article 6

  1. An amateur or non-amateur player who has become eligible to play for a club affiliated to a national association may not be registered with a club affiliated to another national association unless the latter has received an international registration transfer certificate issued by the national association which the player wishes to leave.
  2. A national association may only request an international registration transfer certificate from the national association which the player wishes to leave if the club which the player wishes to join submits its request for registration in a timely manner, i.e., during a registration period fixed by the national association which is to request the certificate.
  3. Upon receiving the request, the national association of the former club shall immediately request that club and the player to confirm whether the contract has expired, whether early termination was mutually agreed, or whether a contractual dispute exists.
  4. A national association shall produce an international registration transfer certificate within 7 days of a demand from another national association, while simultaneously sending a copy to the FIFA general secretariat.
  5. However, by way of exception to par. 4, if a contractual dispute has arisen in the context of the player changing clubs (i.e. the contract has not expired and there has been no mutual agreement on early termination of a contract), the national association concerned shall not produce an international registration transfer certificate. The national association may only produce an international registration transfer certificate upon being notified of the decision on the sanction imposed in the case of unjustified breach of contract. The national association shall inform the requesting national association of the existence of a contractual dispute within 7 days of receipt of the request for the certificate.
  6. If, after a period of 14 days from the date of the request from the prospective national association, the national association which a player wishes to leave has not issued an international registration transfer certificate, the new association is entitled to contact the FIFA general secretariat requesting FIFA's intervention. A player shall not, under any circumstances, be authorised to play in official matches for his new club until an international transfer registration certificate has been issued.

Art. 7

  1. Only the national association of the club which the player wishes to join is entitled to request the necessary international registration transfer certificate. Consequently, a national association which receives an unsolicited international registration transfer certificate from another association shall not register the player concerned for one of its clubs before it has requested another certificate from the national association which the player wishes to leave.
  2. The international registration transfer certificate, duly signed by the national association which the player intends to leave, shall be issued in triplicate. Special forms provided by FIFA for this purpose or forms with similar wording shall be used.
  3. The original shall be sent to the national association requesting the transfer, the first copy to the FIFA general secretariat and the second shall remain in the possession of the national association which the player is leaving.
  4. A national association may grant a player temporary eligibility to play on the basis of an international registration transfer certificate sent by telefax, for a maximum period of a sports season within a period of 12 months. If the international registration transfer certificate is not received within this period of one year, the player's eligibility to play shall be considered definitive. A national association resorting to this temporary eligibility clause as a deliberate ploy to enable one of its registered players to play temporarily in another country shall be referred to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

Art. 8

  1. The international registration transfer certificate may not be made subject to any conditions. In particular, the validity of an international registration transfer certificate shall not be restricted to a certain period and any clauses to this effect appended to the certificate shall be considered null and void.
  2. National associations are strictly forbidden from charging expenses or demanding payment of a fee for issuing an international registration transfer certificate.

Art. 9

  1. A national association issuing an international registration transfer certificate at the request of another national association shall indicate in an attachment to the certificate whether the player wishing to transfer is under suspension on disciplinary grounds.
  2. The national association receiving the international registration transfer certificate shall enforce the remainder of the disciplinary measures applying to the player and shall confirm in writing to the former national association that it has done so.
  3. Any dispute as to what does or does not constitute disciplinary grounds under par. 1 above shall be referred to the FIFA Players' Status Committee.

Art. 10

  1. Under the provisions of these regulations, the loan of a player by one club to another is dealt with administratively like a transfer. An international registration transfer certificate shall therefore be issued:
    - whenever a player leaves a national association to join another national association to which the club to which he has been released on loan belongs;
    - whenever, on expiry of the period of loan, a player rejoins the national association of the club which released him on loan.
  2. The conditions governing the loan of a non-amateur player (duration of the loan, obligations to which the loan is subject) shall be regulated by concluding a separate written contract between the two clubs and the player concerned. Any clause in this respect appended to the certificate itself shall be null and void.
  3. A club which has accepted a player on a loan basis is not entitled to transfer him to a third club without the written authorisation of the club which lent him out and of the player concerned.

To read the full FIFA Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players, click here

Or to see of they are applied, click here for the Regulations governing the Application of the Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players