Player Status

In professional football, the relationship between clubs and players is based on contractual relationships and players routinely move from one club to another. AIFF in its aspiration to provide effective means to regulate and clarify the status and movement of players, has created the AIFF Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players (“Regulations”), in line with similar regulations adopted and implemented by FIFA. These regulations deal with the status and eligibility of players, as well as the rules applicable whenever players move between clubs belonging to different Member Associations affiliated to the All India Football Federation.

Player Registration

As per Article 5 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfers of Players, "a player must be registered at an association to play for a club as either a professional or an amateur in accordance with the provisions of Article 2. Only registered players are eligible to participate in organised football. By the act of registering, a player agrees to abide by the statutes and regulations of FIFA, the confederations and the associations."  In order to comply with the above provision, the AIFF implemented the Centralised Registration System (CRS), an online electronic information system, in the 2013-14 season. The primary objective of CRS is to keep track of all the player registrations, contract renewals and domestic player transfers in the country, thereby simplifying the processes and improving transparency.

Centralised Registration System

Player Transfers

In football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one football club to another. The Centralised Registration System (CRS) shall be used to administer and monitor all domestic transfers of professional and amateur players. International player transfers shall strictly adhere to the FIFA regulations concerning the same and the administrative process for such transfers shall involve the International Transfer Certificate (ITC) procedure, conducted exclusively via the FIFA Transfer Matching system (TMS).

Intermediary

An intermediary is a natural or legal person who, for a fee or free of charge, represents players and/or clubs in negotiations with a view to concluding an employment contract or represents clubs in negotiations with a view to concluding a transfer agreement. To view all AIFF registered Intermediaries, click here.

Disciplinary

The All India Football Federation, in line with similar regulations adopted and implemented by FIFA, has created the Disciplinary, Code to provide for effective means to preserve and regulate the substantive and formal provisions governing the punishment for disciplinary offences falling within their scope of application. It describes the infringements, regulates the application of penalties, governs the actions of the disciplinary bodies and defines the procedure to be followed before these bodies. This Code applies if the statutory objectives of AIFF are breached, especially in cases of forgery, corruption and doping. It also applies to every match
and competition organised by AIFF and for any breach of AIFF regulations that does not fall under the jurisdiction of any other body. Misrepresentation in players' documentation and duplication of profiles in the Centralised Registration System (CRS) shall view also be treated as serious violation of the Disciplinary Code. documents related to AIFF Disciplinary Matters.

Anti-doping

In competitive sports, doping refers to the use of banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs by athletic competitors. The use
of such substances is considered unethical, and therefore prohibited by most international sports organizations including the FIFA.
Furthermore, athletes (or athletic programs) taking explicit measures to evade the detection exacerbates the ethical violation with
overt deception and cheating.

Doping is defined by World Anti-Doping Agency as the occurrence of one or more of the following anti-doping rule violations
mentioned in the WADA/NADA Code:

  • Presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in an athlete’s sample
  • Use or attempted use by an athlete of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method
  • Refusing to submit to sample collection after being notified
  • Failure to provide information about the whereabouts or being unavailable for doping control
  • Tampering with any part of the doping control process
  • Possession of a prohibited substance or method.
  • Trafficking a prohibited substance or method.
  • Administering or attempting to administer a prohibited substance or method to an athlete
  • Complicity
  • Prohibited Association