FIFA: Canadian clubs only spent 100K on transfers in the first half of 2012 By Steven Sandor Posted on July 23, 2012 Comments Off on FIFA: Canadian clubs only spent 100K on transfers in the first half of 2012 0 698 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Canadian teams made 106 transfers in the first half of 2012 — the wide majority of them deals that didn’t involve a buying or selling price. FIFA has released its midterm report on the international soccer marketplace — and it finds that transfer spending is on the decline in 2012, as the worldwide economic downturn and financial fair play rules in Europe are forcing more and more teams to take a more calculated approach to spending. According to FIFA, Canadian teams acquired a total of 58 players in the first half of 2012, while 48 moved on. But, altogether, the total amount of transfer dollars in ALL of the deals was… USD$100,000. No Canadian team actually sold a player, so all 48 departures were free deals, loans or trades. Meanwhile, there was only a total of $100K spent on transfers. So, based on that number, we see that, when it comes to transfers, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps, the Montreal Impact and FC Edmonton are actually quite frugal. The United States is not on the list. FIFA has published the data it has received from 134 member nations, and it looks as if the Americans did not get the paperwork to FIFA in time for the publication of its report. According to FIFA, “In the first six months of 2012, professional football clubs conducted a total of 4973 international transfers. This is down nine per cent from the same period in 2011.” And while the number of deals is down slightly worldwide, the actual money spent is down significantly. In the first half of 2012, transfer deals worldwide were worth US$576 million. But that’s down $294 million from this time last year. In fact, in England, we saw clubs actually sell more than they bought. The country that now leads the way when it comes to spending is Russia, which saw more than $64 million spent on players, more than $40 million more than the clubs received in transfer fees. “This could suggest that the effects of the global recession – for instance, distressed corporate sponsors, restrictive bank lending policies and reduced overdraft facilities for clubs – are being felt in the international football transfer market,” states the FIFA report.
