Your Academy Trained That Player. Could Your Club Be Owed Money When He Moves Abroad?

A young player joins your academy at 13. He trains with your team for two seasons, plays local competitions and gradually attracts attention. Eventually, he leaves for a bigger club. Years later, you see him playing in Europe.

The academy is proud. The coaches remember the hours spent working with him, and the club moves on to the next group of players.

But there is a question more grassroots clubs should be asking: when a player progresses into professional football or moves internationally, could the clubs that trained him be entitled to financial compensation?

In certain circumstances, yes. FIFA has established mechanisms designed to reward clubs for developing players. Yet understanding the rules, maintaining accurate registration records and following the payment process are all essential.

A grassroots club in Ghana has already benefited

In November 2024, FIFA highlighted the experience of Tamale Zaytuna FC, a grassroots club in Ghana that received training rewards connected to Abdul Fatawu Issahaku’s transfer from Sporting CP to Leicester City.

The club’s president, Ibrahim Dawuda, explained that receiving training compensation and solidarity contributions had previously been difficult. He described the FIFA Clearing House as a way to make the process clearer and help the club invest in developing more players.

FIFA also documented the experience of Sportivo Obrero, an amateur club in Paraguay that benefited from the transfer of Robert Morales from Cerro Porteño to Toluca.

These are documented examples of football development rewards reaching clubs that operate well below the level of the major European teams.

They also show why grassroots development should not be viewed only as an expense. Under the applicable rules, a club’s contribution to a player’s development may carry financial value later in that player’s career.

The two mechanisms and their purposes

The first is training compensation, covered by Article 20 and Annexe 4 of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.

As a general rule, training compensation may become payable when a player is registered for the first time as a professional, or when a professional moves between clubs belonging to different national associations before the end of the calendar year of his 23rd birthday.

The calculation takes account of eligible training periods and the relevant training costs. It is not simply a percentage of whatever transfer fee a player eventually commands. The circumstances of the registration and the applicable exceptions matter.

The second is the solidarity mechanism, covered by Article 21 and Annexe 5.

For a qualifying transfer in which a professional moves during the course of a contract and compensation is payable, 5% of the relevant transfer compensation, excluding training compensation, is allocated for distribution among eligible training clubs. Their respective shares depend on the player’s registration history during the relevant calendar years, beginning with the year of his 12th birthday and extending through the year of his 23rd birthday.

This is not a promise that every academy will receive money whenever one of its former players moves abroad. Eligibility, registration records, the nature of the transfer and the rules governing the particular transaction all matter.

The distinction is important. Training compensation and solidarity contributions serve related purposes, but they are not interchangeable.

Where grassroots clubs need to be more careful

The first problem is often administrative rather than sporting.

A coach might know that a talented player spent three years at a particular academy. But if the club’s registration records are incomplete, the player’s name is recorded differently across documents or the club cannot establish the relevant registration periods, determining the correct training history becomes more difficult.

FIFA’s electronic player passport records the player’s registration history, including the clubs with which he has been registered since the calendar year of his 12th birthday.

This makes formal registration a serious administrative responsibility, not merely a formality required before a competition.

An academy that relies exclusively on handwritten attendance books, photographs and informal agreements is making it harder to demonstrate its role in a player’s development.

What should Nigerian clubs do now?

1. Keep a complete player register.

Record each player’s full legal name, date of birth, registration dates, status and registration history. Keep copies of the relevant registration documents and resolve discrepancies rather than allowing them to accumulate.

2. Confirm that registrations are properly recorded.

Work through the relevant football association and registration channels to make sure the club and it’s players are accurately represented in the applicable systems. Training attendance alone is not necessarily proof of formal registration.

3. Keep the club’s own records accurate.

Maintain current club affiliation, identification, contact and banking information. Where FIFA Clearing House procedures apply, clubs may need to complete the required compliance assessment and onboarding process before payments can be made. Their banking details must meet the platform’s requirements and belong to the recognised club entity.

4. Check the electronic player passport process.

When FIFA or the relevant association generates an electronic player passport for a training-reward event, check the player’s history carefully. If your club is missing or a registration period is incorrect, raise the issue through the appropriate official process and provide supporting evidence.

5. Do not assume the international rules settle every domestic case.

The FIFA RSTP governs international transfers and establishes certain binding principles. Transfers between clubs in the same association are also governed by that association’s regulations. Nigerian clubs should therefore confirm the applicable NFF rules and procedures rather than assume that every domestic movement follows the same process as an international transfer.

The bigger lesson

Developing a footballer takes years. The investment may include coaching, pitches, equipment, competition entry, transport and the daily work of helping a young player improve.

When that player succeeds, a grassroots club should not have to rely on memory or goodwill to establish what it contributed.

The practical lesson is straightforward: document the player, preserve the registration history and understand the regulations before an opportunity arises.

A club that prepares early puts itself in a better position to establish whether it is entitled to a reward and to navigate the process correctly.

A2Z Football Hub takeaway: Never assume that your academy is entitled to money, but never assume that it has no entitlement either. Check the rules, check the registration history and get the facts right.