Irish FA chiefs have confirmed that the Irish League’s summer transfer window has been shelved until the current campaign is formally concluded.
The governing body has also moved to provide clarity on the thorny issue of contracts ahead of a potential resumption of the Danske Bank Premiership in the summer.
Earlier this week the IFA’s Football Committee granted an historic extension to the 2019/20 season to allow the NI Football League to finish the campaign if it so desires.
NIFL is set to decide by June 30 whether to complete or scrap the season, while UEFA have said all domestic competitions must be concluded before July 31.
That timeline has raised a raft of questions around contracts, loan deals and pre-contracts, where players have committed their futures to new clubs for the 2020/21 season.
In an email to Irish League clubs, the IFA confirmed that the registration period (transfer window) for next season “is delayed until the Irish FA formally declares the end of season 2019/20.”
As a result players with contracts dated to expire before the conclusion of the current campaign can be extended, but only if “agreement is reached between player and club”.
Extensions have to be made until July 31 on the IFA’s Comet system which will be updated automatically if the season “extends beyond this date or is ended before this date.”
Loan agreements can also be extended until the official conclusion of the 2019/20 season - initially until July 31 - “subject to the agreement of all parties.”
On pre-contracts, the IFA said the paperwork would have to be updated and re-submitted “with new dates to reflect a registration with a new club for season 2020/21.”
It added: “If the current pre-contract agreements are not re-submitted the player will not be able to play for either his current club or new club for the remainder of Season 2019/20.
“If the player wishes to finish the season with his ‘current club’ his registration will need to be extended with that club and a new pre-contract form submitted.”
The preference of NIFL is to finish the season, but many within the game fear that won’t be possible given football is in phase four of the NI Executive’s recovery plan.
When local football was put into cold storage on March 13, leaders Linfield led Coleraine by four points with seven league games to play, while the Irish Cup was at the semi-final stage.
