Algorithms, taxes to help FIFA with transfer system changes

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The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) plans to introduce reforms to the current transfer system including calculating transfer fees using algorithms and imposing luxury tax on massive deals.

The transfer system in the soccer world has been under criticism and, in a recent FIFA report seen by Reuters, was accused of leading to "various abuses at the expense of young players and the integrity of competitions."

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has put reforming the transfer market as a priority since he was elected in 2016. /VCG Photo

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said he places the overhaul of the transfer system high on his agenda of priorities since his election in 2016 and has been calling for attention to hiking transfer fees.

The governing body of football has come up with many ideas to deal with the problem, including reportedly applying a set of mathematical rules to figure out how much a player is worth on the market.

Swiss-based CIES Football Observatory has already developed an algorithm to "estimate transfer values and probabilities in a scientific way," according to The Daily Mirror.

Neymar's 222-million-euro transfer from Barcelona from Paris Saint Germain in 2017 is the most expensive deal so far. /VCG Photo

The other eye-catching idea is to impose luxury tax on transfer deals that involve astronomical figures and use the money collected to set up a solidarity fund.

Other proposals include limiting the number of loan players each team can have in a season and cutting the role of agents. All proposals are currently in the making and no announcement has been made yet.

The following are the top 10 most expensive soccer player transfers:

VCG Photo

(Top picture: Money matters in today's football world. /VCG Photo)