SC Malesherbois receive EUR 159,990, equivalent to more than the club's annual budget
Payment follows successful completion of electronic player passport and compliance processes
FIFA Clearing House centralises and automates financial flows between clubs
On Monday, 12 June 2023, French amateur club SC Malesherbois became the first recipient of a payment processed by the FIFA Clearing House (FCH), the licensed institution established by FIFA to centralise and automate financial flows between clubs related to training rewards and to promote financial transparency and integrity within the international transfer system. The transaction, amounting to EUR 159,990, was triggered by the international transfer of a player who was trained by SC Malesherbois as an amateur between the ages of 12 and 15 and has recently been signed by a top European club. The payment is in excess of the French club's annual budget and represents the largest amount it has received for training a player to date, with similar payments expected from future instalments related to this transfer.
"It was a fully automated process, in which we just had to follow the instructions provided by the FIFA Clearing House," said SC Malesherbois President Emmanuel Esnault. "We didn't have to claim our training rewards, which is a real improvement for a small club like us."
This transaction is only the beginning for the Paris-based FCH, which operates under the supervision of the French banking supervisory authority. "This initial payment made to SC Malesherbois is a clear example of the extent to which the FIFA Clearing House will benefit the whole football pyramid in a fair and efficient way, while bringing more integrity to the transfer system as part of the holistic reform implemented by FIFA in the past years," said FIFA Chief Legal and Compliance Officer Emilio García Silvero.
Since the FCH was launched in November 2022, FIFA has generated almost 7,300 electronic player passports, and hundreds of allocation statements involving more than USD 18m (EUR 16.74m) have already been shared with the FCH and will be processed once the compliance assessments have been finalised. This number is expected to increase five- to sixfold within 2023 and set a new yearly record of training rewards allocated by FIFA in this, the FCH's first year of operations. Note: on Tuesday, 20 June 2023, between 14:00 and 17:00 CET, FIFA will host a live webinar on FIFA.com to present the key learnings and best practices related to the implementation of the FCH and prepare all relevant stakeholders for the upcoming summer transfer window. The webinar will be held in English, with simultaneous interpretation available in French and Spanish. Further information about the FCH can be found here.
