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What is a FIBA letter of clearance?

By McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM · Certified WNBA player agent

Published September 26, 2026. Last updated September 26, 2026.

What is a letter of clearance?

Under FIBA's Internal Regulations, Book 3, in force as of April 22, 2026, a letter of clearance is a certificate issued by FIBA that confirms a player is free to transfer internationally and that a new national federation is allowed to issue that player a license (article 3-64). Without it, a club abroad cannot register the player for competition. It can be issued to only one federation at a time, and it cannot be limited or conditional.

Who needs one?

Any player seeking an international transfer, whether a national or a foreign player (article 3-69). Whenever a federation receives a license request from a player moving from another country, it must obtain a letter of clearance from FIBA before issuing the license (article 3-71). That covers an American moving from one European league to another, a player returning to a country after a season elsewhere, and a U.S. college player signing a first professional contract abroad.

How does the process work?

1. The club signs the player and the new country's federation submits the request through the FIBA Information System, with the player's passport, nationalities, date and place of birth and, if an agent is involved, the agent's name and FIBA license number (article 3-72).
2. The federation the player is leaving has six days to agree or disagree, confirm whether it licensed the player, and report any sanctions against the player (article 3-74).
3. If it disagrees, the requesting federation has three days to say whether it disputes that reply, and FIBA decides the letter of clearance within seven days of learning of the dispute (articles 3-75 and 3-76).

The administrative fee is CHF 250 per request (article 3-348). There is no fee for a first registration, meaning a player who has never been licensed by any federation.

Can FIBA refuse a letter of clearance?

Yes, for the reasons listed in article 3-67, including:

• The player is under contract with the club beyond the scheduled transfer date.
• FIBA has banned the player from international transfers, or banned the new club from registering players.
• The new federation is suspended, or the player was involved in an illegal transfer.
• The agent representing the player in the process is not a FIBA-Licensed Agent.
• The information in the request is inaccurate, misleading or false.

One protection matters most for players: a letter of clearance may not be delayed or refused because of a monetary dispute between a club and a player. A club that owes you money cannot hold your clearance hostage over it. That dispute belongs in arbitration, usually before the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal.

What about players coming from a U.S. college?

American colleges do not operate under FIBA's transfer regulations, so FIBA treats them as academic institutions. For a player who had never been licensed before college, the federation of the country where the school is based, USA Basketball for a U.S. college, is treated as the federation of origin, and no administrative fee is charged (article 3-98). A player who held a license somewhere before college follows article 3-97, which brings in the federation where the player was last licensed as well.

What about players under 18?

International transfers are not permitted before a player's 18th birthday, except in special cases decided by FIBA's Secretary General (article 3-78). Those cases turn on the player's schooling, family and reasons for the move, and some carry a solidarity fee of up to CHF 3,000 for the clubs that developed the player.

Before you sign abroad

Confirm in writing that your current contract ends before the transfer date, that anyone acting as your agent in the transfer holds a FIBA license, and that the club knows who files the request and when. Clearance problems rarely come from the rules; they come from an old contract, an unlicensed intermediary, or a form filled out wrong. With the new WNBA pay scale changing who goes overseas and when, timing the clearance around the WNBA calendar matters more than it used to.