The New Zealand Football Regulations on the Status and Transfers of Players (RSTP) defines the rules for football in New Zealand regarding the status of Players, their eligibility to participate in Organised Football, and their movement between Clubs.
When a player registers with a club using the official NZ Football registration system (Sporty) the club is required to activate the record. Detailed instructions for how to activate a registration are here. If successful, the status of the record in Sporty will become set to "Active". This is important, because the player is not deemed to be fully registered until the club has approved the registration by activating the record.
However, there are some instances when clubs will be unable to activate a player's registration due to NZF rules. This includes instances where:
- A Red Flag exists against the player (Red Flag needs to be removed).
- The player is registering to NZ Football for the first time AND their nationality or country of birth is not New Zealand, OR the person has previously registered with NZ Football, but they have most recently transferred out of New Zealand (international clearance required).
- The player is already actively registered with another club (termination required - see below).
This support article relates to player terminations.
All Official FIFA registrations have a start and end date which is based on the NZF Season: 1st January - 31st December. If a player has registered with a club and then decides to register with another club within the same season, a termination is required with the first club. This termination of registration can be initiated by the player performing one of the following:
- Registering with a new club. When the new club attempts to activate the player's registration, a message will display that the player is already active with another club. The message lets the new club request termination from the other club.
- Contacting their existing club – Upon receipt of termination request, the club can manually terminate the registration.
- Player termination request made in MySporty Profile
Player registers with a new club while active with a club
This process applies if a player wishes to join a new club while the season is still underway, or if the player has had a Red Flag applied to their record at their previously registered club.
An error message will display when the player registration is attempted to be made Active indicating a red flag or active registration is preventing the registration from being approved.
If Request Termination is selected, a confirmation message is displayed. The player record in the club they're moving to will display a status of TermPending while the termination request is processing.
The request for player termination will generate an email to the administrator of the club that red-flagged the player or who has the player registered as an Active player in the current season.
The Player Termination request email will contain details of the player that has requested Termination, and the club the player is moving to. The email will contain a magic link that allows the club administrator to Approve or Decline the Termination request. If the player has been red-flagged, the reason for the red flag will also display.
The Club Administrator from the departing club can click the View Registration hyperlink in the email to Approve or Decline the Termination Request.
- If the termination request is not actioned within 7 days and is not for a red-flagged person, the request will be automatically approved
- If the termination request is not actioned within 7 days and is for a red-flagged person, the request will be automatically declined
The seven day calculation is inclusive of the day that the transfer is requested and the day that the transfer would be automatically approved e.g.
- Day 1 - 01/01/2026 - Transfer requested
- Day 2 - 02/01/2026
- Day 3 - 03/01/2026
- Day 4 - 04/01/2026
- Day 5 - 05/01/2026
- Day 6 - 06/01/2026
- Day 7 - 07/01/2026 - Transfer auto approved
Click the Approve or Decline option to respond to the termination request. If the Termination Request is declined, a reason will need to provided e.g. still owing fees.
Approved or Declined Termination responses will send a confirmation email to the old club, new club (if applicable) and the player involved in the process.
When a club administrator approves a termination request (departing club), the red flag will be removed from the player registration if one exists, and the status of the player will be reverted from Active to Inactive.
The registration record against the club the player is moving to will update from TermPending to Active.
A player can have a termination request made multiple times within a season, each time generating the termination request email to facilitate a time-frame for the player to make payment/return equipment.
Original club manually terminates registration
This process applies if the player has contacted the club they originally registered with for the season, and requests for an early termination. A club administrator can complete the termination from their Online Registrations are or from SuperCRM.
Online Registrations
Find the player that needs to be terminated (E.g. within the 'Football Player (2026)' form) and click the Delete button to the right of the player's name.
A message will appear stating that there is an active registration with FIFA and you must terminate the registration before the record can be deleted. This will also be an additional warning if the registration is currently red-flagged.
Click Terminate.
The FIFA end date will be set to today's date and the registration status will be changed from Active to Inactive.
SuperCRM
Find the player and open the Registrations tab in their profile area, then identify their active NZ Football registration (E.g. 'Football Player (2026)'.
Click the red trashcan icon on the right of the registration record.
A message will appear stating that there is an active registration with FIFA and you must terminate the registration before the record can be deleted. This will also be an additional warning if the registration is currently red-flagged.
Click Terminate.
The FIFA end date will be set to today's date and the registration status will be updated from Active to Inactive.
Termination request initiated by player
A player is also able to initiate a request to their club to terminate. This can be done from the Registrations tab of the player's MySporty Profile by:
- Clicking the STOP icon to the right of the active registration
- Clicking Terminate in the message that displays.
This will send a 'Termination Request' email to the club administrator(s). If the termination request is approved, the registration status will be updated from Active to Inactive. If the club administrator ignores the email or takes no action, the termination will automatically be approved after one week.
While a registration has a pending or approved termination request, the STOP button will be greyed out to prevent sending multiple termination requests at the same time.