The growth in women’s professional football continued once again in 2022, as the number of international transfers has more than doubled since 2018, while the requirement to use TMS was introduced.

Some interesting figures from the report published by FIFA.

The international transfer market in women’s professional football set a new record in 2022 with a new high of 119 associations around the globe involved in 1,555 international transfers – more than ever before and 19.3% higher than the previous record set in 2021. The number of clubs completing these transfers was also high, with 500 clubs from around the world involved, a plus of more than 20% compared to 2021.

Transfer fees

The annual outlay for transfer fees in 2022 was USD 3.3 million, a new record and 62.0% above the level of 2021.
73 clubs recorded receipts from transfer fees and 65 spent money on transfer fees for incoming transfers, an increase of 69.8% and 58.5% respectively.
Players from the USA were still number one in the list of the top ten nationalities in terms of the number of transfers. Their 164 transfers represented more than 10% of all international transfers in 2022.
With 118 incoming and 95 outgoing transfers, Spanish clubs completed the highest number of transfers in both categories in 2022. The top ten associations for incoming and outgoing transfers were predominantly European.

Amateur football

Since 1 July 2020, international transfers of amateur players have to be processed through TMS, just like those of professional players. The dimensions of global amateur transfer activities quickly surpassed those in the professional game, and in 2022 there were more than twice as many amateur transfers as professional transfers, with a total of 49,238 amateur players moving across borders and joining a club in a new association. Some 92.3% of these players were male. The global reach of amateur football is truly impressive, with 204 of FIFA’s 211 member associations involved in at least one transfer last year.