Brazilian clubs approve phased cut to foreign player limit from 2027 | OneFootball

Clubs from Série A and Série B have approved a CBF plan to lower the cap on foreign players, with a phased rollout starting in 2027 after a meeting at federation HQ in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.

The federation said the change is designed to open pathways for academy talent, citing analysis of 219 matches that found teams listed 5.4 foreign players per game and a league average age of 28.5, above Spain 27, France 26 and Italy 26.1, which it argues harms performance.

Clubs may list nine in 2026, then eight in 2027, seven in 2028, six in 2029 and five in 2030.

The quota has steadily risen since 2013, moving from three to five that year, to seven in 2021 and to nine since 2022.

From next season, the 50-man registration will be split into List A for players over 23 and List B for under-23s. In 2027 the split becomes 30 and 20, moving to an equal share by 2030.

The plan began with a manifesto from the Movimento dos Clubes Formadores during meetings of the national youth working group, and was approved by clubs and federations with only two votes against. Players aged up to 20 accounted for 50.1% of Brazil’s outbound transfer revenue between 2016 and 2025.

Scheduling was also revamped, with unanimous approval to drop some midweek 19:00 slots and late Sunday games, which would run no later than 19:30. Série A will cluster fixtures on Sundays at 16:00 and stage six on Wednesdays under a Super Quarta banner, pending rights-holder sign-off given contracts to 2029.

Source: Meu Timao

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