By Samindra Kunti
December 4 – Belgian top clubs are fearing an exodus of their homegrown talent after FIFA reduced the international training compensation from €75,000 to €10,000 a year for players aged 12 to 15 in the summer.
Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Genk and Standard Liège have reacted with indignation to a measure that FIFA quietly implemented in August and that may fundamentally alter the outlook of their youth academies.
The system of training compensation came into force in September 2001 and is applicable whenever players move between clubs belonging to different national associations. Training compensation is paid to all clubs who have trained a player from the age of 12 to 21 when the player’s status changes from amateur to non-amateur.
The compensation in the EU and EEA is calculated based on the costs of the club’s respective country. Belgian clubs belong to category 2 with compensation set at €60,000. The clubs in the best European leagues in category 1 are entitled to €90,000.
FIFA decided to lower the training compensation for players aged 12 to 15 to category 4 and its fixed fee of €10,000 a year. Belgian clubs might lose up to €260,000 a player and fear that their youth players will now be recruited even more easily by financially powerful foreign clubs.
Under the old system the selling club would receive €375,000 (5 x €75,000 – the average of €90,000 and €60,000 corresponding with category one and category two). Under the new system the club would only receive €115,000 (4 x €10,000 plus €75,000 in the year he turns 16.
“This measure is catastrophic for the development of our youth players,” said Standard Liège president Roland Duchatelet in the local media. “The best young Belgian player will leave at an early age and no longer progress to our first team. If the measure is not reversed, there is a risk Belgian clubs will not invest in youth development anymore.”
Belgian clubs have in the past decade produced a wealth of outstanding players, including Vincent Kompany, Thibaut Courtois and Marouane Fellaini, who all ply their trade in the English Premier League. Young Anderlecht players Dennis Praet and Youri Tielemans are the latest hot prospects on the radar of big money European clubs.
“We may not be able to compete financially with foreign clubs, but we are convinced that our youth academy is of a higher standard,” said chief recruiter Peter Verbeke of league leader Club Brugge. “We give players a chance at the highest level and that way they can go abroad.”
FIFA changed the system after pressure from the European Commission, which considered the high compensation fees a violation of the fundamental principle of the free movement of workers, enshrined in Article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The same principle led to the Bosman ruling in 1995.
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