Explaining FIFA's bold plan to handle player contracts

Think of it as football's Y2K, the legal bug in the system that could -- if unaddressed -- unleash havoc if 2019-20 competitions continue past June 30 w88th .

More than one out of five players in Europe's Big Five leagues -- English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1 -- would, legally, disappear from club rosters come July 1 when their contracts expire or when their loan deals come to an end. FIFA have assembled a working group to deal with the issue and a proposal, seen by ESPN, outlines some potential solutions. And when UEFA holds video conferences with member associations and other stakeholders on Wednesday, it will be on the agenda.



If a solution isn't found, it's hard to see how competitions can continue into July, something that may be necessary if the coronavirus pandemic doesn't abate in many nations. On the other hand, the proposed fixes in the FIFA document open up a Pandora's box of other issues that could tie everything up in legal red tape.


Q: OK, let's start at the beginning. Who is affected and why?

A: Based on available contract information, it's at least 500 players from the five leagues mentioned above. That's more than one-fifth of the ones who have played this season. Some clubs have as many as 17 players in those circumstances: They would physically struggle to put out a team without them w88 casino .

Some 270 of those players are on contracts that expire on June 30, 2020, while the rest are on loan from other team and those agreements also end on June 30, which means their registration goes back to their parent clubs.



Q: Why does all this happen on June 30?

A: Because that's the standard date on which contracts end in most leagues. And it makes sense because the FIFA transfer window opens the following day, on July 1 w88club mobile .

Q: Which leagues are most affected?

A: La Liga would lose 24.6% of their players, Serie A 26%. In the Premier League it's less, 12.9% of players are affected, but it hits certain teams far more than others: Newcastle would lose nine players, for example; Leganes, 14, SPAL, a whopping 17, and Union Berlin, 12.