The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has imposed transfer bans on Uzbek football clubs Bunyodkor and Andijan, the Professional Football League (PFL) of Uzbekistan said.
FIFA issued the ruling against Bunyodkor on June 23, and the Uzbekistan Football Association officially notified the PFL on July 2 that the club is barred from registering new players.
Bunyodkor had previously acknowledged its outstanding debt to former Brazilian star Rivaldo and agreed to a five-year structured payment plan. While the club successfully met its financial obligations under this agreement in 2024 and 2025, a critical shift occurred in 2026 when the state-owned enterprise Uzbekneftegaz—the club's founder and primary sponsor—halted its funding. Consequently, Bunyodkor missed a scheduled payment in May, prompting Rivaldo to take the matter back to FIFA. As a result, the terms of the five-year settlement and its associated discounts have been voided.
Bunyodkor will now be unable to sign new players until the end of the summer transfer window and must navigate the rest of the season with its current roster. Moving forward, the club can only promote youth players who were already registered in the FIFA system as academy products before the ban took effect; any players admitted to the academy after June 23 are excluded due to the restrictions.
Meanwhile, Andijan faces a separate transfer ban. In a letter to the Uzbekistan Football Association, FIFA stated that Andijan failed to meet its payment deadline to the Albanian club KF Laçi.
FIFA had ordered Andijan to clear debts stemming from the transfer of Slovenian player Altin Kreziju within 45 days. The midfielder originally signed with Andijan in February 2025 and parted ways with the team in September of that year. However, Andijan missed the June 10 payment deadline.
As a consequence, Andijan is prohibited from registering new players for three consecutive transfer windows, or until the matter is fully resolved. Once the debt is cleared, Andijan must notify football's governing body, and the ban will be lifted as soon as KF Laçi confirms receipt of the funds.
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