Training compensation and the solidarity contribution: how Belgian clubs must calculate them
Publication · July 17, 2025
FIFA's Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) establish two distinct but complementary mechanisms designed to reward clubs that contributed to a player's training: training compensation, due upon a player's first registration as a professional or upon subsequent transfers before a given age, and the solidarity contribution, applicable to every international transfer occurring during the course of a contract.
The training period must be distinguished from the age limit for the payment trigger. Article 20 and Annex 4 of the RSTP generally recognise training between ages 12 and 21, with compensation potentially payable until the end of the calendar year of the player's 23rd birthday. Calculation uses the new club's category and training costs, subject to special rules for early years and EU or EEA transfers. The relevant training clubs are considered at first professional registration; subsequent transfers generally concern the previous club. Exceptions must be checked in the applicable edition.
Article 21 and Annex 5 govern solidarity: generally, 5% of transfer compensation, excluding training compensation, is allocated to training clubs. Each year from the 12th to 15th birthdays receives 5% of that contribution; each year from the 16th to 23rd receives 10%. Incomplete periods are calculated proportionately. A percentage of the contribution must not be confused with a percentage of transfer compensation. International transfers and domestic transactions with an international dimension need separate scope checks, including conditional instalments of the consideration.
The FIFA Clearing House, established to make these financial flows more reliable, now centralises a significant share of payments linked to training compensation and the solidarity contribution in international transfers. Belgian clubs must register with this structure and submit the required information, which then verifies the eligibility of claims before settlement, reducing the risk of disputes arising from omitted or miscalculated payments.
Sound administrative record-keeping is a central concern for Belgian training clubs. In the absence of documented proof of a player's affiliation period, a club may lose its claim for lack of evidence of its actual contribution to training. It is therefore advisable to systematically retain international transfer certificates, contracts and proof of sporting registration.
Practical difficulties frequently arise where a transfer takes place between a Belgian club and a club outside the European Union, or where the player trained in several countries. In such cases, the interplay between the RSTP and the regulations of each national association concerned must be examined carefully, since claim deadlines and dispute procedures vary depending on the competent sporting body.
Belgian clubs also have recourse in cases of non-payment or dispute over the amount owed, in particular before FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber where the parties fail to reach an amicable settlement. Bringing a matter before this body requires compliance with strict formal and time requirements, which justifies seeking legal assistance as soon as a payment default is identified.
Ultimately, mastering these mechanisms requires rigorous administrative organisation and constant monitoring of developments in the applicable rules. Belgian clubs, often involved in training young players who go on to play abroad, have every interest in structuring their monitoring processes in advance to secure the compensation to which they are entitled.