Premier League clubs agree five-year limit on transfer fee amortisation

Chelsea was one of 15 clubs, which voted to amend the amortisation rule, which will not be backdated, so will not include any contracts already signed.

The rule change brings the Premier League in line with UEFA who amended their regulations in June.

Premier League clubs have voted to limit the period over which a player’s transfer fee can be spread in their accounts to five years, the league announced on Tuesday.

Previously, clubs could amortise the cost of a transfer fee over the full length of any contract.

“Premier League shareholders today agreed to amend the rule on amortisation of player registration costs to bring it in line with UEFA’s regulations,” the league said in a statement.

“Going forward, a five-year maximum will apply to all new or extended contracts.”

Most Premier League clubs have taken advantage of amortisation but recently, Chelsea has signed players on eight-year contracts or more, allowing it a much longer period in which it can write off the transfer fees.

This allowed clubs to get around Premier League Financial Fair Play regulations whereby clubs are permitted to lose a maximum of 105 million pounds ($131.76 million) over a three-year period.

Chelsea was one of 15 clubs, which voted to amend the amortisation rule, which will not be backdated, so will not include any contracts already signed.

The rule change brings the Premier League in line with UEFA who amended their regulations in June.

The clubs have also agreed to a rule amendment which allows the Premier League Board to stop a club from registering more players when a club owes a transfer debt to another Premier League or EFL club until the outstanding debt has been paid.