Italy federation bans co-ownership of players

Italy is to ban clubs from co-owning players, saying the practice is out of line with the rest of Europe. “From the next transfer window onwards, the co-ownership of players will no longer be possible,” Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president...

Italy is to ban clubs from co-owning players, saying the practice is out of line with the rest of Europe.

“From the next transfer window onwards, the co-ownership of players will no longer be possible,” Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Giancarlo Abete said.

“This has been questioned many times by public opinion and it is also evident that it is atypical compared to the rest of Europe,” he added.

One of the higher profile co-owned players is 19-year-old Sassuolo forward Domenico Berardi, scorer of 16 Serie A goals last season, whose rights are shared with Juventus.

Under co-ownership, each team owns 50 per cent of a player.

The buying team keeps the player for one season, paying his wages, and at the end, the deal can either be extended for another year or ended with one club purchasing the other’s share.

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