FPDSFootball Player Data Standard

Consultations / Release clauses and sell-on percentages

Consultation ยท OQ-14

Do release clauses and sell-on percentages belong in a player submission?

When an agent offers a player to a club, the club often asks two questions. Is there a release clause? Does the selling club keep a percentage of a future transfer fee? We want to know if FPDS includes these facts.

Status
Open
Open for
At least 14 days
Who can answer
Agents, intermediaries, club staff, players, and other people who are 18 or older
Time
About three minutes
FPDS now
A submission cannot include a release clause or a sell-on percentage

Why this question matters

A release clause is a fixed fee. If a club pays the fee, the player can leave. A sell-on percentage is a share of a future transfer fee that the selling club keeps.

These two facts change the cost of a transfer. They are also confidential terms between a club and a player. Parties forward submissions many times, so a confidential term can travel far.

Reasons to include them

  • A club can see the real cost of a player before it asks.
  • Recruitment staff use less time on players that the club cannot afford.
  • A structured value is better than a number in a message with no source.

Reasons to leave them out

  • The terms belong to the club and the player, not to the agent.
  • A forwarded document can show the terms to clubs that the sender did not choose.
  • A published fee can weaken the position of the selling club in a negotiation.

Some ideas

These ideas start the discussion. They are not the only answers. Agree with one, change one, or tell us something different.

  1. A. Include the amount. The submission states the fee or the percentage, with its source.
  2. B. Include only whether one exists. The submission says "yes", "no" or "not stated". The club asks for the amount.
  3. C. Leave them out. Parties discuss these terms outside the submission.

Your answer can give a different idea for release clauses and for sell-on percentages.

Give your answer

Write your answer in your own words.

Read the privacy notice before you answer. You can answer without an email address.

What happens next

  1. The consultation stays open for at least 14 days.
  2. We publish a summary on this page. The summary shows the number of answers from each role, and the main reasons on each side. It does not show names.
  3. We record the decision and its reasons in the decision log.

Developers can also discuss this question on GitHub.