FIFA Finally Votes to Bar 3rd-Party Trades

FIFA imposed a gag of silence last week upon members of its own executive committee. Those who had called in the media for disclosure of a report into allegations of bribes for votes relating to the next two World Cups — to he held in Russia and Qatar — were reminded by president Sepp Blatter that “the principle of confidentiality” must be respected.

And on that, for now, there is silence.

However, those same board members were required to vote in Zurich to put a stop to another iniquitous practice, namely the widespread abuse of the way that players are traded across the globe.

“We took a firm decision that T.P.O. should be banned,” Blatter declared. “But it cannot be banned immediately. There will be a transitional period.”