Professional football licensing system

To participate in the professional football competitions in the Netherlands, each club must have a license.

The club licensing system relates to a dynamic club licensing system. The dynamic nature of the licensing system means that clubs have been granted a license for an indefinite period of time, club are not required to apply for a license on an annual basis (prior to the respective season). However, the license can be revoked or expired if the club repeatedly fails to meet the licensing requirements.

The main objective of the licensing system is to warrant the protect the integrity and continuity of professional football competitions in order to ensure, as much as possible, that the competition proceeds without any interruption whatsoever. The secondary objective is to protect the continuity of professional football associations by ensuring and improving quality factors with regard to:

i. the set-up of the youth development programme;
ii. social responsibility;
iii. the set-up of the employment organisation;
iv. the legal structure and governance;
v. the infrastructure and safety;
vi. finance.

Licensing regulations and guidelines Page in Dutch.