FA to press FIFA on third-party fears

THE FA will urge FIFA to address the issue of third-party player ownership at the earliest opportunity to ensure the Carlos Tevez affair is not the first of many to hit English football.

Third-party ownership of players is a common practice in the South American game and does not, in itself, break any football regulations in England.

What is not allowed, as happened with West Ham and Tevez, is for a third party to acquire the ability to materially influence a club’s policies or team’s performance.