FIFA have delivered an update on players contracts that are coming to an end at the conclusion of the current campaign and that impacts West Ham.
Midfielder Tomas Soucek is on loan at the Hammers from Slavia Prague until the end of the season and contracts normally expire on June 30.
However, with the coronavirus pandemic still bringing all elite football to a halt indefinitely a month after it was first stopped, it hadn’t been decided how contracts that were coming to an end this summer would be sorted out as the season is set to be extended past that date.
Now, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has revealed that when the current campaign comes to a close, that is when the contracts will also come to an end.
The FIFA statement said: "Expiring player contracts usually end when the season ends, with a termination date that coincides with the end of the season.
“With the current suspension of play in most countries, it is now obvious that the current season will not end when people thought it would.
“Therefore, it is proposed that contracts be extended until such time that the season does actually end.
This should be in line with the original intention of the parties when the contract was signed and should also preserve sporting integrity and stability.
“A similar principle applies to contracts due to begin when the new season starts, meaning the entry into force of such contracts is delayed until the next season actually does start.”
West Ham players Pablo Zabaleta and Carlos Sanchez are the only to players on permanent deals that are out of contract at the end of the season and they are both expected to depart the club.
West Ham signed Soucek on loan until the end of the season but also have a permanent op[tion to sign him once the campaign comes to a close for a fee believed to be £16.9million. That is dependant on West Ham staying in the Premier League at the end of the season.
