“Parents are Youth FA’s biggest concern,” Youth FA president Fr Hilary Tagliaferro told a meeting of the House Social Affairs Committee this evening.
“They do not know the rules, they dump kids at nurseries to be babysat, and they do not attend parents’ meetings.”
Fr Hilary referred to cases mentioned in a Xarabank edition last year, and accused the media of blowing up the issue without sufficient investigation.
Together with MFA secretary general Angelo Chetcuti and Youth FA secretary general Joe Micallef, Fr Hilary elaborated the transfer process and set out to assuage social media concerns that nurseries were acting irresponsibly and with prejudice.
Micallef clarified that six- to 12-year-olds were free to transfer unconditionally during the transfer window, without recipient clubs having to pay transfer fees. Youth FA had even turned a blind eye to regulations in cases where players’ best interests called for other solutions.
Fr Hilary also confirmed that there had not been a single case of anybody from this age group being denied a transfer during the transfer window. There had been cases where Youth FA had to intervene with nurseries that did not want to let players go, but the majority of cases were resolved amicably after a few telephone calls.
Children over 12 were a different matter, as 12-year-old players were obliged to register with the MFA and were subject to FIFA regulations.
Young players had formerly been bound to a single club from the ages of 10 to 21, barring a transfer agreement agreed to between the clubs in question. In such cases, transfer fees had to be paid by the recipient club.
However, recent modifications to the respective regulations meant that 10- to 12-year-olds were now free to transfer unconditionally, and without the recipient club having to pay transfer fees.
Furthermore, those over 12 could join another club at the ages of 15 and 19, provided that nursery compensation of €300 per year was paid.
In other cases, transfer fees still had to be paid by the recipient clubs, but Mr Micallef emphasised that it was against Youth FA regulations for parents to be asked to compensate clubs for this.