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Foreign professionals are allowed to leave Russia, including Brazilians Wendel (left) and Malcom (right) from Zenit Saint Petersburg
Photo: Maksim Konstantinov / imago images/Russian Look
The world football association Fifa has opened a temporary transfer window for foreign players and coaches at clubs in Russia and Ukraine in view of the Russian war against Ukraine.
The Council ruled on Monday that contracts with Ukrainian clubs are automatically suspended until the end of the season and that players at Russian clubs can unilaterally suspend their contracts until June 30.
After that, however, the contracts should apply again.
The suspension of a contract means "that players and coaches are considered contractless until June 30, 2022 and are therefore free to sign a contract with another club without any consequences," FIFA said.
At the same time, it was determined that this change period applies up to and including April 7th.
In addition, a club may only sign a maximum of two players who fall under this exemption.
With the decision Fifa reacted to the situation of foreign players after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, normally these players could not leave their clubs.
This results in a short-term market.
The Russian league has been attracting high salaries for years, so many top players went to the Premier League.
Players like Zenit Saint Petersburg's Malcom, his team-mate Wilmar Barrios or CSKA Moscow's Jordan Larsson are likely to attract interest from clubs in Europe's top divisions.
A number of players and coaches left Russia before Fifa's decision, including ex-HSV coach Markus Gisdol.
Criticism from players' union
The players' union Fifpro welcomed individual measures as "helpful", but criticized the fact that players are only allowed to suspend their contracts for a certain period of time.
Fifa's measure does not go far enough, the organization said it would be difficult for players to find a job for the rest of the season.
"Within a few weeks they will find themselves in a difficult situation again."
Fifpro had previously demanded that players should be given the opportunity to terminate their contracts.
An additional problem with the regulation until summer: contracts in Russia are usually valid until December and not until June 30 as usual.
Fifa and the European Football Union (Uefa) had previously excluded all Russian teams from international competitions.
Football has been suspended in Ukraine since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine.
"Fifa reiterated its condemnation of Russia's continued use of force in Ukraine and calls for a speedy cessation of hostilities and a return to peace," the world association said.
hba/dpa/AP