It was another of those off-field moments that didn’t receive too much attention at the time, but will profoundly influence the game for years. The January transfer window will certainly be affected.
On 30 November, an Arbitral Tribunal in the United Kingdom ruled that Fifa would not be able to impose a cap on agent commissions for football transfers in the territory. The decision immediately freed the various agencies to start consulting with clubs on January plans knowing what budgets they could work within, and have forced the global governing body “back to the drawing board”.
