Fulham given suspended six-month ban from registering Academy players

Fulham have been given a suspended six-month ban from registering Academy players and fined £75,000 after accepting that they broke Premier League rules regarding settlement payments made to a grassroots club for Fabio Carvalho.

Carvalho, who joined Liverpool in the summer of 2022 and is currently on loan at Hull City, spent three years at Balham FC, formerly Balham Blazers FC, before joining Fulham’s Academy in 2014.

The west London club entered into a ‘heads of terms’ agreement with the amateur side in October 2015, which is not permitted under Premier League rules. A heads of terms contract is a summary of important points agreed between contracting parties before they move to a full contract.

This agreement entitled Balham Blazers to compensation should Carvalho make his first-team debut for Fulham, (which he did in May 2021, against Southampton), and again following his transfer to Liverpool in 2022.

Balham FC are not regarded as a ‘transferor club’ under Premier League rules, meaning they are not permitted to receive payments unless “otherwise agreed by the (Premier League) board”.

Fulham did seek Premier League approval for the agreement, but this was rejected in December 2022 and again in January 2024.

Fulham had previously alerted both the FA and EFL to the original agreement after discussions with Balham following Carvalho’s senior debut. Following guidance from the FA, a new compensation agreement was implemented in October 2021 between the clubs on the originally-agreed terms.

However, Fulham were in the Championship at the time and this agreement was not sent to the Premier League. Fulham have accepted that the payment of the settlement sum following Carvalho’s transfer to Liverpool was in breach of Premier League rules and also provided the league with details of another agreement with Dartford FC relating to winger Martial Godo, who is currently on loan at Wigan.

Fulham have accepted that any payment to Dartford under this other agreement would also be a breach of the rules. The ban from registering Academy players from other teams is suspended for a year and would come into force if Fulham were to breach the same rule again within that period.

The ban applies to Academy players between the U9 to U18 age groups who have been registered in the preceding 18 months with another Premier League or EFL club. It does not prevent the club from registering players on professional terms. The suspended ban came into force on April 15th.