September 3 – Australian football stakeholders, who have jointly committed to a ‘holistic’ review of the Aussie professional game’s economic model, as a first step have agreed to phase out the controversial ‘Caceres Clause’ that covers player transfers.
Football Australia, Australian Professional Leagues (APL), and Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) have also pledged to review the effectiveness of the salary cap and explore the potential of transfer fees between A-League clubs.
Under current Australian transfer rules no transfers are permitted between A-League clubs and no ‘transfer fee’ can be ‘requested, offered or paid’ between clubs.
The Caceres Clause, introduced in 2016, prevents the registration of a player to an A-League club if a club within the same club ownership group buys a player from another A-League club and attempts to transfer/loan that player to their related A-League club.
The FA, APL, and PFA now say the clause is restrictive and “no longer fit for purpose given theevolution of the Australian football landscape and the broader globalisation of the football economy.”
The A-League has seen investment in clubs by multi-club ownership groups that has both increased the visibility of Aussie players internationally and on the global market, as well as increasing interest in players moving between A-League clubs.
The feeling is that the market needs to be opened up to encourage commercial activity, rather than constrained. The changes should be complete by the start of the registration period for the 2025/26 season.
Football Australia said: “Assessment (of the old and new rules) will take place through the A-Leagues Professional Football Committees within the APL and PFA Collective Bargaining Agreement, with FootballAustralia invited to join in its capacity as regulator.”
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