Why Unión get nearly €400,000 for Domina but nothing for Calderón? | OneFootball

On the first morning of the radio show, we had an exclusive interview with the renowned lawyer specializing in sports law regarding the situation of Domina, who, starting January 1, 2026, will be a free agent and has already signed a pre-contract with Cádiz of Spain. How does this affect Unión’s finances in the event of future transfers of the player?

Well, the situation—you mentioned that Calderón was 24 years old when he left and Domina is 19. Exactly.

Right, that’s where the difference in treatment begins. Basically, FIFA created two mechanisms to compensate training clubs. When? When the footballer signs his first professional contract. Obviously, there always has to be an international transfer certificate for FIFA regulations to apply; if it’s a domestic transfer, we apply law 27211, but since these are international cases—the two you mentioned, one to Chile and the other to Spain—we have to apply FIFA regulations. So, FIFA regulations talk about training compensation for the first employment contract, and the amount is related to tables FIFA has, according to the club’s category, where the player is going, and now we have the concrete numbers regarding the fee.

The other is the solidarity mechanism, which is the most well-known: every time there is an international transfer or loan, 5% of the amount paid is distributed among the training clubs from ages 12 to 23. So, in both cases here, Calderón and Domina, we’re talking about training compensation, because it would be the first contract, even if they already had one with Unión, it’s the next contract. The second one.

Right, the second is the next one, because when he signs the first one, it benefits all previous clubs in FIFA, starting from age 12.

It’s very clear what you’re saying, so that’s where all the training compensation that Unión will receive comes in.

So, since the first contract is with Unión, we have to look at the next club, which will have to compensate Unión for the entire period they trained Domina. In Calderón’s case, there was no payment because this training compensation applies to contracts signed up to age 23. Since Calderón was 24, he was outside this range, and since he left as a free agent, there was no transfer fee, so no payment was made. There was no mechanism because he went directly from Unión, so that’s why nothing was collected for Calderón.

This case is different, of course, because he’s 19. So, since Cádiz is a second-division club in Spain, according to the categorization FIFA uses in its tables, it’s a second-category UEFA club. UEFA can be divided by different confederations—CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, UEFA. Well, in UEFA, a second-category club like Cádiz would have to pay, for each year of training from ages 12 to 15, €10,000 per year, and from 16 to 21, €60,000 per year.

Here, since he’s only up to 19, let’s assume he’s completed 19 years, just to make the math simple—this needs to be checked day by day, but in principle, from 12 to 15 you have 4 years: 12, 13, 14, 15, so that’s €40,000 there. Then, from 16 onwards, it’s €60,000 per year: 16, 17, 18, 19, that’s 4 years. 4 times 60, plus the 40 we had before, that’s €280,000. So, reasonably, Unión will collect €280,000, not €400,000. And obviously, it’s not that Cádiz signs (5:01) and immediately pays that money, no.

It’s a whole process within FIFA, which is the best-case scenario, because it’s a mandatory procedure enforced by FIFA, they put you into a system they have, a whole process, and you don’t actually see the money right away.

Yes, look, FIFA allows you to waive this right. Well, national law strictly prohibits waiving it, precisely so that clubs don’t feel pressured by the training club, but FIFA does allow it to be waived.

Right, then if Cádiz sells or transfers him, as you said, to Madrid for 5 million dollars, or any amount, 10 million dollars, then Unión will get paid, but through the other mechanism, the solidarity mechanism.

Which are two different things, exactly. Two different things. So, what percentage applies? Well, from ages 12 to 15, it’s 0.25% of the transfer price per year, and from 16 to 23, it’s 0.50% per year.

So, in Unión’s case, using round numbers, from 12 to 15, at 0.25% per year, you have 1%. Then you have 16, 17, 18, 19—4 years at 0.50% per year. So, add it all up and you get 3% of the transfer price.

If it was 10 million? Done. Then you’d collect 300,000, right? If my math is correct. Yes, I think so.

No, no, the thing is, FIFA allows you (8:16)—because surely they weren’t so careless as to have him sign today or tomorrow. Right.

It’s dated from January 1. January, right. And what FIFA allows is that when you’re in the last 6 months of the employment contract, the player can freely negotiate a future contract.

So, if logically they signed it with a date from January 1, there won’t be any FIFA penalty, because it was done by the rules. Even if, within the employment relationship between Domina and Unión, they may have breached some obligations. So, the club might impose some labor sanction, depending on whether they have an internal disciplinary regime—Unión, I don’t know if there will be a financial penalty or not, I don’t know.

That has to be checked internally. If so, Unión would have to impose it on the player, within the employment relationship with Unión.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.