Scottish FA confirms dates for summer transfer window

Scottish football clubs can begin to buy and sell players immediately after the Scottish FA confirmed the dates for the summer transfer window.

The traditional football calendar has been thrown into disarray because of the coronavirus pandemic, with last season brought to an early halt and the new SPFL competition starting on August 1 for the Premiership and in October for the other three divisions.

That situation left uncertainty over when clubs would be able to trade players but the SFA has announced that it has approval from world governing body FIFA to open the window immediately and allow players to be bought and sold until October.

The SFA/SPFL Joint Response Group, set up to deal with the impact of the pandemic, said it had taken into account several factors when proposing the new dates for the window.

FIFA rules say the window cannot be longer than 12 weeks but with Premiership clubs starting their season in less than three weeks, and others not playing until October, an immediate start was recommended.

European Leagues and UEFA have said an end date of October 5 is preferable to keep leagues in line with each other. The closing date also means all business will be completed before the proposed start of the League Cup.

FIFA has also confirmed that the first registration period for Scottish Women’s Football will be from Wednesday, July 15 until Tuesday, October 6.