In Belgium, the winter transfer period begins later than in other European championships: it officially begins on January 7.
This means that Belgian clubs can only register new players from this date, while their players can already leave the championship from January 1.
This particularity results from an administrative choice linked to FIFA regulations, explains the Newspaper. The international body imposes a limit of 16 weeks of transfers per season, including at least four for the winter period. In Belgium, we favored an extended summer window of 12 weeks, leaving only four weeks for winter transfers.
In other leagues, such as England or Spain, a shorter summer window made it possible to start the winter transfer window from January 1. Despite this delay, the Belgian winter window will close, as elsewhere, on February 3.
This decision has practical implications. For example, Belgian clubs such as Club Brugge or Genk will not be able to field new recruits during the Cup matches scheduled for January 7, since registrations will only be possible from that same date.
However, extending the transfer period until February 3 offers some flexibility to Belgian clubs. This allows them to adjust their squad late if key players were to be transferred to more prestigious leagues.
Thus, Belgian clubs do not suffer a competitive disadvantage compared to other European countries, where the winter transfer window also ends on February 3 at 11:59 p.m. Only the Dutch, Portuguese and Italian leagues extend their transfers by an additional day, until February 4.
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