1. WHAT IS AN INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER CERTFICATE?

1.1 An International Transfer Certificate (ITC) is a certificate provided from one FIFA Member Association to another to facilitate the transfer of a player between countries.

1.2 The FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (FIFA Regulations) require all players, either amateur or professional, to obtain an ITC where the immediately preceding registration was with a FIFA Member Association other than the FIFA Member Association in which the player is registering.

1.3 Further, the Canada Soccer Rules and Regulations (CSRR) mandate that a player, when required, must obtain a valid ITC prior to registering and playing soccer in Canada.

1.4 In Canada, in accordance with the FIFA Regulations, the only authorized body who can request an ITC for a player is Canada Soccer.

1.5 Typically, there are three types of ITCs for eleven-a-side soccer. There are ITCs for amateur adults, ITCs for professional players, and ITCs for minors, the details of which are set out in the following sections.

1.6 Failure to request and obtain an ITC in accordance with the CRR and the FIFA Regulations may lead to disciplinary sanctions being issued against Canada Soccer, the relevant Member Association of Canada Soccer, Club and/or the player.

4. THE INTERNATIONAL CLEARANCE PROCESS FOR MINORS

4.1 Pursuant to the FIFA Regulations, the international clearance process applies to any minor player, being a player aged 10 to 17 years seeking to register to play soccer in Canada at any level.

4.2 As a first principle, the FIFA Regulations state that an international transfer of a player is only permitted if the player is over the age of 18 (Art 19.1 – The Protection of Minors). This policy is intended to protect players under the age of 18 from potential exploitation.

4.3 The FIFA Regulations also apply to any Minor who is a foreign national (including refugees) seeking to register in Canada, irrespective of whether they were registered to play soccer in their previous country or not. The FIFA Regulations also capture any Canadian Minors who are returning to Canada after having played abroad. Any such Minor seeking to register to play soccer will need to complete a Minor ITC Application.

4.4 Where a Minor was born in a country other than Canada and is registering to play soccer for the first time (First Registration), the international clearance process will still need to be carried out. Canada Soccer is required to confirm that there is no record of registration of the player in their former country of residence and will still require mandatory supporting documents to re quest this information.

4.5 Canada Soccer is able to consider Minor ITC applications for the transfer of Minors to amateur Canadian Clubs who meet the following exceptions as per the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players:
•Art. 19.2(a), where the player’s parents move to the country in which the new Club is located for reasons not linked to soccer (e.g. work purposes or humanitarian reasons);
•Art. 19.2(c) where the player lives within 50km of a border of a FIFA Member Association and the club is also within 50km of that border (i.e. the border of Canada and the USA);
•Art. 19.2(d) where a player flees their country of origin for humanitarian reasons, specifically related to their life or freedom being threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, belonging to a particular social group, or political opinion, without their parents and is therefore at least temporarily permitted to reside in Canada; and
•Art. 19.2(e) where a player is a student and moves without his parents to Canada temporarily for academic reasons in order to undertake an exchange program. The duration of the player’s registration for the new club until the player turns 18 or until the end of the academic or school programme cannot exceed one (1) year. The player’s new club may only be a purely amateur club without a professional team or without a legal, financial or de facto link to a professional club.

4.6 For all other Minors, Canada Soccer may be able to make an application on behalf of that Minor to the FIFAPlayers’ Status Committee in Zurich. However, Canada Soccer is unable to make any guarantee as to the outcome of such an application. Please note that such applications can be very time consuming and require significant supporting documentation. Further, in Canada Soccer’s experience, it is not unusual for FIFA to make a number of requests for further supporting documentation once the initial application is lodged.

4.7 Children aged under 10 at the time of their registration do not require an ITC.

4.8An individual player’s soccer ability or nationality has no bearing on the ITC process.

Go to BC Soccer’s website for more information and application templates and full requirements.
Note: Starting with the flowchart on Page 6 of their document helps you determine if an ITC is necessary.

No requests will be processed without the mandatory documents being provided (NO EXCEPTIONS)