The two-day course, led by Zora Born and Lefteris Coroyannakis of FIFA TMS GmbH, is a refresher for the 14 participants to help them better understand FIFA’s transfer matching system (TMS), which became the mandatory platform for the international transfer of professional male players within the scope of 11-a-side football in October 2010.
Crucially for OFC associations, it is also mandatory to use the platform for all applications for the international transfer of minors or for their first registration in countries where they are not a national.
 
It follows on from the introductory workshop held on TMS in April 2010 with representatives from each of OFC’s 11 Member Associations in attendance.
“I’m glad to be back in Auckland to see the progress that has been made,” says Ms. Born, who also was present at the workshop last year.
“It is important that we keep our association users all over the world up to-date with both the main and new functionalities that exist in the system and remind them of their obligations, especially now that we have entered a fully regulated environment.”
TMS was presented to the FIFA Congress in 2007 as part of the work of the FIFA Task Force “For the Good of the Game.” The initiative has transformed the international transfer market to ensure football’s authorities have more details on each and every transfer while at the same time increasing the transparency of individual transactions.
“One of the key objectives is to safeguard FIFA regulations,” says Ms. Born. “That includes the protection of minors, respecting transfer registration periods and enforcing suspensions. All of this helps to improve the credibility and standing of the entire transfer system.”
Mr. Coroyannakis, a member of the Integrity and Compliance unit within FIFA TMS tasked with ensuring that associations and clubs comply with their obligations in relation to the use of the system, added that, “TMS ensures consistency throughout the international transfer market for professional football players. If a club wants to participate in this market, they are obliged to do so using the system. There are no exceptions to this, and we commit to applying the rules in a uniform manner throughout the world in order to guarantee equal treatment.”
For participants like Stefan Szegedi, it is this consistency that is most appealing about the FIFA system.
“In Samoa and across Oceania it has been common for clubs and Member Associations to all have different methods of transferring players,” says Szegedi, who works as the Competitions and Communications Manager for Football Federation Samoa. But now there is one system that we all need to follow and I think this benefits everyone ­ the players, the clubs and the governing bodies.”
The course in Auckland is part of FIFA TMS plans to visit all Member Associations and ensure global coverage for TMS.