Registration period
Also called transfer window
A 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.
The regulations set the shape of both. The first may not be shorter than eight weeks or longer than twelve. The second, falling mid-season, may not be shorter than four weeks or longer than eight. The two together may not exceed sixteen weeks, which is why a long summer tends to mean a short winter.
Associations fix their own dates inside those limits, and must enter them into TMS at least twelve months before they take effect. FIFA sets the dates for any association that misses the deadline. Associations may also fix different periods for their male and female competitions.
All transfers, domestic and international, must occur within these periods, subject to the specific exceptions the regulations set out.
Worked example
An association opens its first registration period on 1 July and closes it on 1 September. That is nine weeks, inside the eight to twelve week range.
It then has at most seven weeks left for the mid-season window, because the two cannot exceed sixteen weeks combined.
Source: FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, January 2026 edition, art. 6
Related terms
- Protected periodThe protected period is the opening stretch of a contract during which terminating it without just cause carries the heaviest consequences: three seasons or three years for a contract signed before the player turns 28, and two of each after.
- LoanA loan moves a professional to another club for a predetermined period under a written agreement, suspending the obligations between the player and their original club for its duration.