International Transfers (ITC) refer to the transfer of players between clubs to and from New Zealand. ITCs are done in accordance with the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP).
Players aged 10+ need an international transfer clearance if they’ve played for a club overseas or are a foreign national registering in New Zealand for the first time.
Diagram as detailed in NZF Guide to International Transfers (2025)
In this article:
- Incoming International Transfers
- Outgoing International Transfers
- Managing Registration Status (NZF Only)
Incoming International Transfers
Stage 1 (Clubs): Submitting an Incoming Transfer Request
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:
- The player is already actively registered with another club (termination required).
- 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 registering last played football overseas (regardless of Nationality and/or country of birth). Therefore, an international clearance may be required - see below.
If an International Clearance is required, when a club attempts to activate the player registration, the following message will display:
Instead of the record being set to "Active", it will become set to Int Required (international clearance required). The club should follow the following steps to process the international clearance.
Adult Players
1. Open the person's registration record to upload a copy of the person's passport.
2. Navigate to the section International Clearance Requirements and upload a PDF document that displays the player's passport. Enter the country the player last registered to and the club the player last registered to. Finally, select the ITC Type applicable to the registration.
3. Enter any notes/comments as required.
4. Click Submit.
5. Click the + Icon to Activate the Player, then select Ready for NZF Action.
Minor Players
1. Collect the information as defined on FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) for Minors. This involves collecting multiple pieces of evidence E.g. Player Passport, Parent Passport(s) etc.
2. Submit this information to your Federation for review and action.
3. Your Federation will confirm you have all required documentation before providing this information through to NZF to complete the International Transfer Clearance
Stage 2 (NZF): Processing Incoming Transfer Requests
Clubs that have selected NZF ready for action will automatically update the registration status to INT ENTERED.
NZF will monitor registrations that require International Transfer by filtering to registrations with a status of INT ENTERED.
When the International transfer clearance has been submitted to the Transfer Matching System/Clearinghouse (TMS), NZF will update the status of the registration to INT PENDING. NZF will monitor registrations that are awaiting a response in TMS by filtering to registrations with a status of INT ENTERED.
When the International Transfer has been approved, NZF will update the status of the registration record to ACTIVE in Sporty and delete the passport from the player registration.
Outgoing International Transfers
If a player that has most recently played in New Zealand registers to play in another country, an International Transfer will be required. Clubs can expedite the process of player approval in their country by responding to an Outgoing International Transfer request.
Stage 1 (NZF)
If New Zealand Football receives an International Transfer request from overseas, they will update the current season registration record status to INT OUTGOING (International Outgoing).
This action will trigger an email to the player's New Zealand club, with an option to Approve the International transfer request.
NZF will also check the historical data files to ensure any historic registration records are captured on the players history.
Stage 2 (Club)
When the Club approves this request, a confirmation message will be displayed, and the player registration status will be set to INT TRANSFERRED.
Stage 3 (NZF)
NZF will monitor International transfer requests that have been approved for an International Transfer (Outgoing), but have not been actioned in TMS to identify recently approved outgoing International Transfers by filtering to registrations that have: a status of INT TRANSFERRED and Outgoing request approved in TMS is NULL.
Following processing in TMS, NZF will check the flag Outgoing request approved in TMS on the registration record in Sporty to indicate completion of administrative processes for Outgoing ITC's.
Managing Registration Status (NZF Only)
NZF can manage the status of registrations that require international transfer clearance in SuperCRM.
The status is managed from the Registrations tab of the person's profile who requires the incoming or outgoing clearance.
The following status updates can be made:
- IntRequired -> Active
- IntEntered -> IntPending
- IntPending -> IntRequired
- IntPending -> Active
- Active -> IntRequired
- Active -> IntOutgoing
- Pending -> IntOutgoing
- Inactive -> IntTransferred
Update the status by:
- Open the CRM profile of the person requiring the international transfer clearance.
- Swap to the Registrations tab.
- Click on the hyperlinked text in the Status column of their registration to open the FIFA Registration Status modal.
- Click Save to update the status.