Third-party ownership in association football

Third-Party Ownership (TPO) in association football is the ownership of a player's economic rights by third-party sources. The third-party—which can be an agent such as a football agent, an agency, such as a sports-management agency, a company, investors such as a hedge-fund, or a single investor—"takes ownership of all or part of the financial rights to a player". In some cases when a footballer is sold, the TPO, not the football club, can benefit from transfer fees and contract negotiations fees. Note that this differs from co-ownership in football, where a player's transfer rights are shared between two clubs.

The practice has also been widely used in football in South America, particularly in countries such as Brazil and Argentina, with a system of players, clubs, agents, teams, and investors involved. It is associated with football clubs with few financial options that face financial hardship, and are sometimes insolvent. By 2007, TPOs had become common practice in football in Portugal, Spain and Russia.

According to a 2007 article in The Guardian and academic articles, businessmen or other investors buy shares in the economic rights of young players and often cover the costs of their training and accommodation. In return they are entitled to a percentage of a player's future transfer fee. A 2016 article in the Mirror, explained how third-party owners may either purchase a percentage of a player's "economic rights" from the club, or even purchase a player's contract. Owning the contract allows the third-party owner to increase profits by "parking a player" at a club temporarily until the player's value appreciates, at which time he is sold to another club and the agent earns a percentage of the transfer fees.

In April 2015, FIFA announced the banning of third-party ownership, and specifically prohibited either clubs or players from entering into economic rights agreements with third-party investors. The ban took effect on 1 May 2015. The European Parliament also announced a similar ban in European sports on 11 November 2015 following the passing of Rule 136 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure. In a written declaration, the European Parliament states that third-party ownership raises concerns over the integrity of competitions and introduces risks of criminal activities into sports.

According to a 2015 Bloomberg News article, the Football Leaks uncovered secretive "financing practice for the global sport" with "one of the biggest firms investing millions in soccer-player futures".

One method of circumventing the 2015 FIFA ban is to utilise a floating charge over designated accounts where the proceeds of player transfers is paid into. This was notably used by FC Porto.