Does an amateur club pay a transfer fee or training compensation?

Resigning in April: you leave on a free

By resigning between 1 and 30 April you use your decretal freedom. In Flanders your new club does not have to pay your old club anything: the decree bans paying training compensation directly between clubs. Clauses that would stop you playing for another club after you resign are in principle void.

Outside April: consent needed

If you want to change clubs outside the resignation period, you need your club's consent for an ordinary (‘witte’) transfer. Agreements between clubs about a transfer must be in writing and comply with FIFA regulations, the federation's regulations and Belgian law. Club officials and others involved may not gain any personal benefit from it.

First professional contract: the pool regulation

If a player signs their first professional contract by their 21st birthday at the latest, the pool manager checks their registration history. For every season they spent at an amateur club between the ages of 8 and 21, the professional club pays an amount to the Pro League:

• €5,000 per year for a G5 club, the five best clubs over the last five seasons;
• €3,000 per year for another club in 1A;
• €1,500 per year for a club in 1B.

The Pro League passes these amounts on to Voetbal Vlaanderen, which distributes them as youth subsidies based on quality criteria. So the money does not go directly to the training club, but to amateur clubs with a strong youth set-up.

In a permanent transfer between two Belgian professional clubs, the new club withholds 5% of the transfer fee as a solidarity contribution for the clubs that trained the player between the ages of 12 and 23. Since the 2024-2025 season Voetbal Vlaanderen passes the share for training years at an amateur club on to that club.

ACFF clubs: training compensation is due

Separate rules apply to clubs in the French- and German-speaking Communities. If a player who is under 25 before 1 January of the season resigns from such a club in April and joins another club in those communities, the new club pays training compensation to the club(s) that trained them. The same applies if they end up being transferred to such a club via a Flemish club. The compensation becomes due as soon as the player appears on the official match sheet of a first team.

The amounts per training season (September 2026 version, indexed yearly):

• Men and boys: €115.20 (U6 to U11), €238.20 (U12 to U17) and €468.60 (U18 to U21).
• Women and girls: €84.50 (U6 to U11), €184.40 (U12 to U17) and €353.40 (U18 to U20).

The training period runs from registration to the end of the U21 season (U20 for women players). The compensation is calculated per training season since any previous payment, with at most one payment per season. A club that deregistered the player itself is not entitled to training compensation.

Contract players and professional football

For contract players and in professional football, clubs do agree transfer fees. A (former) paid sportsperson can re-register as an amateur no earlier than 30 days after their last official match as a paid sportsperson. Under FIFA's conditions this does not give rise to training compensation.