Fifa is to ban third-party ownership of players, Sepp Blatter has announced, reports The Guardian. The Fifa president said a working group would be set up to implement the ban which would come into effect following "a transitional period".
"We took a firm decision that TPO should be banned but it cannot be banned immediately - there will be a transitional period," Blatter said following a meeting of the executive committee.
Third-party ownership is when the transfer rights of players are wholly or partially owned by the footballer himself or a company, instead of just the player's club.
It is widespread in Brazil and Argentina but is also present in some European countries such as Portugal.
