Ban On Loans Between Associated Clubs Rejected After Failing To Reach Majority

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LONDON: Although more clubs voted to ban the practice, their number was not enough for the ban to succeed.

English Premier League (EPL) clubs will be able to acquire players on loan from their associated clubs in the January transfer window, following a shareholders’ vote in London, Britain, on 21 November 2023.

The clubs were tasked with coming up with a short-term policy to deal with the issue of clubs from associated ownership groups loaning each other players. Twenty clubs voted on the matter, with 12 of them in favour of a ban and eight of them against the ban.

Although more clubs voted to ban the practice, their number was not enough for the ban to succeed, as it required 14 votes. In other words, the ban fell short by one vote.

This means that EPL clubs will be able to continue with the practice of player exchanges on loan with clubs they are associated with through ownership groups or shareholding.

To elucidate this matter, a club like Newcastle United, which has links with Saudi Professional League (SPL) clubs, such as Al Nassr, A-l Hilal, Al Ahly Saudi and Al-Ittihad through the Saudi Public Investment Funds (PIF), can acquire Cristiano Ronaldo from Al Nassr or Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad on loan.

As this was a temporal situation, the Premier League is still going to sit again to come up with a long-term solution on the matter. In the meantime, the clubs are free to go into agreements with their associated clubs.