OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT | 26/01/2015
In view of the reports that have appeared in some sections of the media concerning the request for information that FIFA has carried out in recent months with different Spanish clubs in order to verify that the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP, Ed. 2009) on the first registration and international transfer of foreign minors have been adhered to, Real Madrid would like to outline the following.
1. Real Madrid defends the protection and the correct and healthy development of minors via its strict adherence, without exceptions, to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, and is in complete agreement with such investigations being carried out to this end.
2. Real Madrid have responded diligently, supplying all the information required by the Committee within the established deadlines and in complete documentary detail. Both Real Madrid and the RFEF, through which the informative investigation is being processed, have been left totally satisfied with the information supplied and have verified the strict adherence to the registration regulations in absolutely every case.
3. For the purpose of clarifying to the full the contents of the informative investigation, this club would like to highlight that the information required by FIFA refers to 51 players, of which:
- 1 player appeared twice on the list.
- 10 players had Spanish nationality at the time they were registered, for which reason they are exempt, as the regulations in question deal exclusively with foreign players under 18.
- 6 players were 18 or over at the time of their registration, for which reason they are also excluded for the reasons outlined in the previous section and, in addition, because they had obtained the mandatory FIFA authorisation (ITC, International Transfer Certificate).
- 2 players under 18 were registered after the obtaining of the mandatory authorisation from the Sub-committee to FIFA's Players' Status Committee
- 2 players were registered prior to the RSTP Ed. 2009 coming into effect, without prejudice to the consideration that, being sons of an ex-Real Madrid first-team player, they fulfilled the exceptions subsequently contained in article 19.
- 23 players (24, if the player who appears in duplicate in the information request is taken into account) were registered in second or subsequent registrations as they came from other RFEF member clubs, for which reason they are also exempt as these were not international transfers or first registrations.
- 2 players have never belonged to Real Madrid as they were rejected by the club because it considered in its reasonable judgement that their registration contravened the provisions of article 19 of the RSTP, Ed. 2009. Real Madrid regrets and profoundly rejects that the identity of these minors was revealed today by any section of the media, with no responsibility attributable to the club concerning this.
- 1 is not recorded as being registered at the club, given that the Sub-committee rejected his registration and the case is pending a final resolution in the CAS. It should be underlined that whatever the final resolution, Real Madrid has complied conscientiously with the regulations, having requested this registration via the legal channels without the player having been registered for the time being.
- And, finally, 4 players under the age of 12 were registered via first registration in compliance with both the regulations of the RFEF and the regulations of FIFA, in accordance with the exceptions contained in article 19 of the RSTP, Ed. 2009.
4. Additionally, and for the purpose of clarification, Real Madrid communicates that it has passed on to FIFA all the Collaboration Agreements signed with amateur clubs, whose only aim is to avoid the abuse of its position of superiority over these clubs via the search for balanced agreements with absolute respect for the rights of the players, and fair and equitable compensation for the club that has trained the player, working as a mechanism of solidarity in recognition of this work. As FIFA are already aware, these agreements, 40 in total, have in no case been used to contravene any regulations.
5. All the above shows the extraordinary diligence that Real Madrid has maintained at all times in the transfer and registration of foreign minors, and the unfounded and purely speculative nature of certain reports published on the matter.