Football's governing bodies have agreed two crucial changes to the transfer system with the EC following a lengthy meeting in Brussels.

FIFA and UEFA have established a principle with the EC that players under 28 should respect contracts for the first three years.

They have also extracted an agreement from the EC that players, agents or clubs who break those contracts during the protected period should be liable to 'sporting sanctions', such as suspensions.

These two agreements potentially put the EC on collision course with the international players' union FIFPro when they meet in Brussels on Wednesday. FIFPro insist two years is quite long enough for the protected period, and that there should be fines instead of sporting sanctions.

Fifa and Uefa are still at odds with the EC over exactly how the sporting sanctions would work, and the amount of compensation which should be paid for players under 23 who move clubs.

EU spokesman, Christophe Forax, confirmed disagreements remained over the level of compensation clubs should receive to cover the costs of training young players who switch to other teams. "The level of the fee should not be too high. We should find an equilibrium," he said.

UEFA communications director Mike Lee said: "The mood is fairly upbeat but there are still some very important discussions to be completed."

FIFPro insist the EU will have to reject Fifa's offer on compensation. "They will make fools of themselves if they accept the FIFA proposals," warned FIFPro Secretary General, Theo van Seggelen. He said the Players' Union would launch legal action if the Commission accepted FIFA's terms. He claimed these would hamper players' freedom of movement by insisting their new clubs pay too much compensation to the team they leave behind.

FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, and UEFA President, Lennart Johansson, are scheduled to meet the EU commissioners handling the case on Monday. However, his will have to be postponed if agreements cannot be reached.

ON, AND ON, AND ON, AND ......................

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2001

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Meanwhile........................Freddy fiddles while Toon burns.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2001