Bridge transfer
A bridge transfer routes a player through an intermediate club to disguise the real transaction, and it is prohibited outright for clubs and players alike.
The regulations do not attempt to define every arrangement that might qualify. They prohibit the practice, then supply a presumption that does the work: if the same player is transferred twice, nationally or internationally, inside 16 weeks, the clubs and the player involved are presumed to have participated in a bridge transfer.
That presumption is rebuttable. The parties can establish the contrary, and legitimate short-interval moves do happen. But the burden sits with them, not with the investigator, and that reversal is the point.
The purpose is usually to disguise something: to avoid a training reward, a tax position, a solidarity liability, or the identity of who is really funding a deal. Sanctions fall on any party involved, which explicitly includes the player, not only the clubs.
For an agent the practical consequence is simple. Two moves inside four months invites scrutiny even where everything is above board, and the file needs to explain itself.
Worked example
A player transfers from Club A to Club B in July, then from Club B to Club C in October.
That is inside 16 weeks. Unless the parties can establish otherwise, a bridge transfer is presumed and every party to both moves is exposed, the player included.
Source: FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, January 2026 edition, art. 5bis
Related terms
- Registration periodA registration period, known everywhere as the transfer window, is one of the two annual periods fixed by each association during which players may be registered with a new club.
- Third-party ownershipThird-party ownership is an outside investor holding a share of what a player is later transferred for, and it has been prohibited since 1 May 2015.