Contracts will be adjusted if season is extended – Stewart
Published:Wednesday | April 15, 2020 | 12:26 AM
Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA) vice-chairman Carvel Stewart says clubs will be responsible for ensuring that players’ contracts set to expire this year are modified, as the current Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) season appears likely to continue into the summer.
Stewart’s comments were in response to guidelines from world football’s governing body FIFA on how off-season business should be conducted in light of the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused the suspension of football leagues worldwide. Legal matters such as player transfers and contracts will have to be looked at in the new climate.
He said that they discussed the matter with the teams and outlined that the clubs will need to communicate with the players affected if the new playing schedule requires them to play in July, the start of the local transfer window.
“We have had the discussion, not in great detail but we have had the discussion that should we play beyond the regular period, then the clubs will have to extend those contracts to complete the season,” Stewart told The Gleaner. “It is something that the clubs will have to discuss with their players so that we would have a seamless approach to completion of the league.”
The mindset is in line with the FIFA’s proposed measures under its COVID-19 Football Regulatory Issues document, which included allowing changes to the length of the transfer window and providing for contracts that expire this year to be adjusted to the revised conclusion of the current season. Like many leagues around the world, the RSPL has been suspended indefinitely (since March 12) as a result of the outbreak. The season was scheduled to end in June but that is now very unlikely.
Following a PLCA directors meeting on March 30, the clubs had agreed to a resumption of the league when given the approval to do so by the local health authorities. Stewart said that he was pleased that the FIFA would be “flexible” with new dates for the transfer window as he does not want movement of players to take place when the league is still active.
“We wouldn’t want it (transfer window) to start in July if we are competing in July because we cannot afford to have players transferring to other clubs (at that time),” he said. Stewart has already asked the Jamaica Football Federation to adjust the transfer window in light of the current situation.