The RSTP for the FIFA agent exam: what to master

Transfers, loans, broken contracts, minors, training clubs: everything that makes a transfer window runs through one text, the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, the RSTP. It is the longest text in the exam and the richest in figures. Here are the notions to master, article by article, with what changes in the January 2027 edition.

Why the RSTP matters so much

The RSTP sets the worldwide rules on player status, registration, transfers, contractual stability, the protection of minors and the rewards paid to training clubs. For an agent, it is the daily playing field.

The January 2026 study materials contain the July 2025 edition. A new edition, approved by the Bureau of the FIFA Council on 10 June 2026, comes into force on 1 January 2027 (art. 29); circular no. 1970 explains it as the long-term answer to the Diarra judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Which edition the 2027 exam uses will depend on its study materials. Below, the 2027 changes are flagged.

Status and registration

A professional has a written contract with a club and is paid more than the expenses he effectively incurs; all other players are amateurs (art. 2). A professional can only re-register as an amateur 30 days after his last match as a professional (art. 3.1). If he turns professional again within 30 months, his new club pays training compensation (art. 3.2).

A player is registered with one club at a time, with at most three clubs per season and eligible for official matches with only two of them, save for overlapping seasons (art. 5.3 and 5.4). Two consecutive transfers of the same player within 16 weeks are presumed to be a bridge transfer, unless proven otherwise (art. 5bis).

Registration periods, ITC and loans

The first registration period lasts 8 to 12 weeks, the second 4 to 8 weeks, and the two together never more than 16 weeks (art. 6.2). The International Transfer Certificate (ITC) is issued free of charge, without conditions or time limit, and is not needed under the age of 10 (art. 9). The former association has five calendar days to deliver it; without a reply, the new association may register the player (annexe 3, art. 11).

Contractual stability: the heart of the 2027 reform

A contract cannot be terminated unilaterally during a competition period (art. 16). Just cause allows termination without consequences (art. 14), in particular when at least two monthly salaries are unpaid and the club has been given at least 15 days in writing to pay (art. 14bis). A player who played in fewer than 10% of official matches may invoke sporting just cause within 15 days of the last match of the season (art. 15).

New in 2027, the protected period depends on age at signature (definition 7): four seasons or four years before 23, three from 23 to 28, two from 28 to 32, one from 32, whichever comes first.

• Agreed compensation is now allowed, need not be reciprocal and can be reduced if excessive; for a player earning up to USD 150,000 a year, it must at least cover the residual value of the contract (art. 17.1).
• Without agreement, full compensation, with the residual value of the contract as a floor (art. 17.2 to 17.5), plus up to six monthly salaries for abusive conduct (art. 17.6).
• If the player signs elsewhere within 45 days of his breach, the new club is presumed to have induced it (art. 17.11).
• During the protected period, a player in breach faces four months without official matches, six if aggravated (art. 17.12).

Minors: one principle, five exceptions

International transfers are only allowed over the age of 18 (art. 19.1). The five exceptions (art. 19.2): the parents move for reasons not linked to football; a player aged 16 to 18 moving within the EU or EEA, or within one country; the border exception (no more than 50 km from the border on each side, 100 km at most between home and club); refugees and protected minors; exchange students, for one year at most. From the age of 10, the Players' Status Chamber of the Football Tribunal must approve the move before any ITC request (art. 19.4 and 19.5).

Training compensation and solidarity

Training compensation is due when a player first registers as a professional, then at each transfer of a professional until the end of the calendar year of his 23rd birthday (art. 20). It is calculated on training costs by club category, and the years of the 12th to 15th birthdays are always counted at category 4 rates (annexe 4).

The solidarity contribution is 5% of any compensation paid during a contract, excluding training compensation, shared among training clubs: 5% of those 5% per year from the 12th to the 15th birthday, 10% per year from the 16th to the 23rd (annexe 5, art. 1).

The 2027 changes not to miss

• The player's share of the transfer fee (art. 21bis): in permanent international transfers, a player earning less than EUR 150,000 a year receives 5% of the fixed fee from the releasing club, partly waivable within limits. It applies to contracts concluded from 1 January 2027 (art. 26.1 b).
• Standard late-payment interest of 8% a year, on valid request (art. 23.5).
• A streamlined ITC procedure, with clear and short timelines (annexe 3, art. 11, explained in circular no. 1970).

Revise this text with a test, not a highlighter: see How to study for the FIFA agent exam, then the disputes in The FIFA Football Tribunal.

Sources

• FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, January 2027 edition (PDF)
• FIFA circular no. 1970 of 1 September 2026 (PDF)
• FIFA Football Agent Exam Study Materials, January 2026 (PDF)

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