Going on loan in amateur football: how does a temporary transfer work?

How does a loan work?

A transfer can be permanent or temporary. With a temporary transfer you get a temporary qualification for another club, but you stay assigned to your own club. The rules are the same as for a permanent transfer: both clubs and you give your consent, and your new club files the transfer online.

The periods are the same too. If you are loaned out between 15 June and 31 August, you can play without restrictions. From 1 September you can no longer play for your new club's first team.

Key rules

• A loan always ends on 30 June, when you automatically return to your club. For a new transfer you are deemed to have returned on 1 June.
• If you want to be loaned on to yet another club from your temporary club, you need your own club's written consent.
• As an amateur you may change status during your loan, for example by signing a paid-sportsperson contract, without your own club's consent. The change only applies for the duration of the loan.
• If your own club no longer exists when your loan ends, you can join any club you like from 1 July.
• The federation charges no administrative fee for loaning a player who is under 16 on 1 January. Otherwise the new club pays €12.50.

Returning to your club early

A loan can end early if all parties agree. You then return to your own club immediately; this does not count as a new transfer. The return must be reported to the RBFA, signed by you and by the authorised correspondents of both clubs.

Whether you can then play for your own club's first team depends on the timing:

• If you return by 31 August, in principle you can play straight away. In the provincial divisions a restriction applies if you have already played official matches for another club this season.
• If you return later, you cannot play for the first team that season. The exceptions are a return between 2 January and 3 February to a club in the higher amateur divisions or professional football, and women players returning to a provincial club by 31 December, who are eligible from 1 January.

For clubs: limits on contract players

Limits apply to paid sportspeople. At any time a club may have at most six contract players loaned out to other Belgian clubs and at most six contract players borrowed from other Belgian clubs, with no more than three to or from the same club. Young players who spent at least three seasons at their previous club and are loaned out before turning 21 do not count towards the limit of six.