The youth academy continues to reap the rewards even years later: FIFA has paid out almost a billion dollars to the clubs that trained the players
The Clearing House makes it possible to trace players’ careers and distribute the sums due to the clubs that trained them. Transfers involving just the 530 players selected for the World Cup alone generated 221 million dollars
A young player comes through the youth academy of a small club, turns professional and, many years later, is signed by a major club. A portion of the transfer fee may be returned to the club that trained him. Since November 2022, this process has generated almost a billion dollars through the FIFA Clearing House.
The figure was announced by the Federation just a few days before the 2026 World Cup final. The transfers made throughout the careers of the 530 players selected for the tournament have generated $221 million for the clubs that developed them, involving 46 of the 48 participating national teams.
How it works
The Clearing House is a payment institution based in Paris that acts as an intermediary between the club buying a player and the clubs that trained him. FIFA traces the player’s career using an electronic passport, collects the funds and redistributes them to the beneficiaries.
The system covers two types of payment. The first is the training compensation paid to the club that developed the young player; this is usually paid upon the signing of the first professional contract. The second is the solidarity contribution: a share of the transfer fee is divided amongst all the clubs for which the player has played.
A turning point for FIFA
Before the Clearing House was set up, many payments did not reach their intended recipients. At the time of its launch, FIFA estimated that training clubs received only 70–80 million each year, around a fifth of what they were entitled to.
