The Turkish Clubs Union (Kulüpler Birliği) has officially submitted a proposal to the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) requesting modifications to the current foreign player registration rules for the 2026–27 season.
Under the proposal, Süper Lig clubs are asking the federation to preserve the existing 10+4 foreign player rule while introducing an additional +2 slot buffer to provide crucial squad flexibility.
Key Details of the Clubs’ Proposal
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Maintaining the 10+4 Baseline: Clubs would continue adhering to the standard 10 unrestricted foreign players plus 4 under-23 foreign players for regular Süper Lig matchday squads.
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Integrated Turkish Cup Rotation: Players registered in the proposed +2 buffer would not feature in Süper Lig fixtures. Instead, clubs would be permitted to swap those two additional foreign players into the official squad roster specifically for Turkish Cup (Türkiye Kupası) matches.
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Protecting Against Unilateral Terminations: A primary motivation behind the request is to safeguard clubs once the summer transfer window closes. Under current FIFA regulations, foreign players left entirely off official registration lists often gain legal grounds for unilateral contract cancellation, forcing teams into costly severance payouts. The extra slots ensure surplus foreign talent remains under active registration.
Awaiting TFF Decision
Although the TFF previously announced that foreign player quotas would remain unchanged for the new campaign, the Clubs Union is pressing for this compromise to help teams manage bloated squad sizes and mitigate financial risk.
The federation’s executive board is expected to evaluate the official request in the coming days ahead of the domestic transfer deadline.
