<p class="reg-lead">The International Handball Federation's Regulations for Transfer Between Federations, in force from 4 June 2025.</p>
<table class="reg-facts">
<tr><td>Adoption</td><td><b>4 June 2025</b> — International Handball Federation</td></tr>
<tr><td>Structure</td><td>Chapter IV of the IHF set of regulations</td></tr>
<tr><td>Status</td><td><strong>Current version</strong> — replaces the edition of 27 February 2020</td></tr>
</table>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>What these regulations govern</h2>
<p>This document is <strong>Chapter IV</strong> of the IHF set of regulations and governs the transfer of a player from one national federation to another: the International Transfer Certificate (ITC), the special rules for professional players, the loan of players, the protection of minors, the transfer procedure and compensation.</p>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec hi">
<h2>Key changes in this edition<span class="reg-tag">Changes from the edition of 27 February 2020</span></h2>
<ol class="reg-tl">
<li><b class="t">End of the six-month pre-contract</b>The former rule allowing a player, in the final six months of a contract, to sign a pre-contract for a free transfer has been removed. In its place stands a clearer rule: a player may only conclude a contract with another club whose <strong>start date falls after the expiry date of the current contract</strong>.</li>
<li><b class="t">Signing a contract while a current contract is running</b>A professional player may conclude a new contract for the period after the expiry of the current contract <strong>even while the current contract is still valid</strong>, subject to compliance with Article 9 paragraph 2 of these regulations.</li>
<li><b class="t">Liability of third parties in a transfer</b>Where a third party is involved in the transfer of a player, Articles 10 and 11.5 of the Player Agent Regulations apply — <strong>even if the IHF has issued no agent licence</strong>. A third party may not act for more than one party in a single transfer, and only that same party may pay its fee.</li>
<li><b class="t">Club insolvency and training compensation</b>The right to receive training compensation — whether already established at the time of insolvency or arising after the opening of insolvency proceedings — is recognised as a <strong>special sporting asset</strong>. Upon a club's insolvency, these rights pass automatically to the national federation to which that club belongs; the federation holds them as trustee for the development of the sport, and the IHF or the continental confederation may demand proof of their proper use.</li>
<li><b class="t">Separation of transfers by form of handball</b>A transfer must always be registered between clubs of the same form of handball, in accordance with Article 4.2 of the Players' Eligibility Charter.</li>
<li><b class="t">Recalculation of the federation ranking</b>The ranking appendix, like the Players' Eligibility Charter, has been updated on the basis of the two most recent editions of the World Championships, and the Executive Committee has been given the power to move federations between ranking bands.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>Who this document matters to</h2>
<p>For a player and a club on the threshold of an international transfer, two changes have the greatest practical effect: the end of the six-month pre-contract, which shifts the timing of negotiations, and the extension of the agent rules to any unlicensed intermediary, which subjects informal intermediation to the same restrictions.</p><p>The new insolvency rule also matters to clubs that train players: training compensation which could previously be lost in the insolvent estate now reaches the national federation.</p>
</div>

IHF Regulations for Transfer Between Federations 2025

<p class="reg-lead">The current edition, adopted on 4 February 2025 and in force from that date; it clarified the period of validity of a transfer authorisation, imposed a ceiling of two transferred wrestlers per club and abandoned the primacy of the French text.</p>
<table class="reg-facts">
<tr><td>Adoption</td><td><b>4 February 2025</b> — Bureau of the federation</td></tr>
<tr><td>Structure</td><td>13 articles</td></tr>
<tr><td>Status</td><td><strong>Current edition</strong> — governing club transfers</td></tr>
</table>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>What is the Regulations for International Transfers?</h2>
<p>United World Wrestling's Regulations for International Transfers govern the movement of wrestlers <strong>between clubs</strong> for participation in club competitions, and differ fundamentally from a change of nationality: here the wrestler's national affiliation remains untouched and only a temporary authorisation to appear for a foreign club is issued. The document defines the parties involved — the wrestler, the club of origin, the receiving club and the national federations of both clubs — sets out the authority competent to issue the authorisation and the documents required, determines the transfer fee on the basis of the wrestler's level of medal achievement, and provides a sanction for direct contact with a wrestler without observance of the required formalities.</p>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec hi">
<h2>About the February 2025 edition<span class="reg-tag">Changes from November 2017</span></h2>
<h3>Key changes from the previous edition</h3>
<ol class="reg-tl">
<li><b class="t">Period of validity of the transfer authorisation</b>It was made explicit that a transfer authorisation is valid <strong>until 31 December of the same year</strong>, and, for <strong>league competitions that run across the turn of the year, until 1 March of the following year</strong>. The previous edition had not clarified any such time limit.</li>
<li><b class="t">Ceiling of two transferred wrestlers per club</b>No club may participate in international club competitions with <strong>more than two internationally transferred wrestlers</strong>.</li>
<li><b class="t">Revision of the fee table</b>The levels of medal achievement in the fee table were redefined, and the <strong>senior/U23 world</strong> and <strong>junior (U20)</strong> categories replaced the previous division; the figure of 2,500 francs for the highest level remained unchanged.</li>
<li><b class="t">Results assessment period and age requirement</b>The text clarified by way of example that results of the <strong>past four years</strong> are the relevant criterion (for 2025, meaning from 2021 up to the date of the application), and the minimum age was explained with the example "17 years or older".</li>
<li><b class="t">Language of the document: English only</b>The text is now published <strong>in English only</strong>; the previous rule under which the French version prevailed in the event of a discrepancy was removed.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>Who this document matters to</h2>
<p>Clubs engaging foreign wrestlers and wrestlers participating in club leagues abroad are directly subject to this text. Three points are decisive in practice: the period of validity of the transfer authorisation, the ceiling on the number of transferred wrestlers a club may field in a competition, and the prohibition on negotiating directly with a wrestler before the formalities have been completed — a breach of which gives rise to disciplinary proceedings.</p>
</div>

UWW Regulations for International Transfers February 2025

<p class="reg-lead">FIBA International Transfers of Players — February 2022 changes.</p>
<table class="reg-facts">
<tr><td>Date</td><td><b>February 2022</b> — based on the webinar of 24 January 2022</td></tr>
<tr><td>Structure</td><td>7 pages — a guidance document, not a regulation</td></tr>
<tr><td>Status</td><td>Guidance on changes to the transfer system</td></tr>
</table>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>What is this document?</h2>
<p>In 2019 FIBA launched <strong>MAP</strong> (the Management and Administration Platform) and made it available to all 212 national federations so that they could request, issue and monitor international transfers through it. Since then, more than <strong>25,000 letters of clearance (LOC)</strong> have been processed and approved in the system. This document explains the changes implemented with the new version of MAP from <strong>1 February 2022</strong>.</p>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec hi">
<h2>Key points</h2>
<ol class="reg-tl">
<li><b class="t">The problem of duplicate player and club records</b>With federations having direct access to the system, many created a new record instead of searching for the existing player or club. The result was that a single club acquired several identities and <strong>a single player appeared in the system under several different identification numbers</strong>.</li>
<li><b class="t">The legal consequence of this disorder</b>The document is explicit: matters reached the point where <strong>some clubs benefited from unlawful transfers</strong> — by using a different identity. The February 2022 changes were made to close off precisely this route.</li>
<li><b class="t">FIBA-licensed agents</b>A separate section is devoted to the position of licensed agents and the changes affecting them in the letter of clearance process.</li>
<li><b class="t">The standing of this document</b>This is a guidance document and not a binding regulation; the governing text is <strong>Chapter Two of Book Three of the Internal Regulations</strong>, which determines the transfer procedure and the letter of clearance.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="reg-sec">
<h2>Who this document matters to</h2>
<p>For national federations that issue or request letters of clearance, and for lawyers handling transfer cases: the duplicate-identity defect in the system had real consequences and may still arise in cases concerning transfers from that period.</p>
</div>

Notes related to the tag transfer

IHF Regulations for Transfer Between Federations 2025

UWW Regulations for International Transfers February 2025

FIBA International Transfers of Players