the 2015 FIFA ban is to utilise a floating charge over designated accounts where the proceeds of player transfers is paid into. This was notably used by FC Porto. Regulations At its annual general meeting in June 2008, the English Premier League drafted new rules L34 and L35 to restrict third party ownership of players from the beginning of the 2008–9 season. However, the FIFA 'third-party' rules differ drastically from the Premier League, which creates substantial gaps in the enforcement of TPO. Premier League rules authorise financial institutions to hold player economic rights - which Maciel & Walton suggests, appears to be a contravention of the all-encompassing FIFA ban. In 2007 as reported in The Guardian, The league's rule U18 had previously stated that the third parties were not permitted to "materially influence" a club's "policies or the performances of its teams". In October 2007 it was reported that Football's international governing body, FIFA, was acting to ban 'third-party' ownership. Article 18 of FIFA's Rules on the Status and Transfer of Players does restrict the practice, at least as far as a third party's influence is concerned, stating that: "No club shall enter into a contract which enables any other party to that contract or any third party to acquire the ability to influence in employment and transfer related matters its independence, its policies or the performance of its teams". In September 2014 UEFA announced they were going to tackle the issue. Later that month FIFA announced they would ban the practice. In July 2015 a Belgian court rejected an appeal against the banning of third-party ownership. By 2016, TPO was strictly forbidden in England. Criticism Third-party ownership became controversial in English football after the arrival at West Ham United of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from the Brazilian club Corinthians in August 2006. One unidentified official called it, "an unedifying trade in young people that rips the heart out of clubs which try to develop players". Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, said of third-party ownership: "It is like trading in human beings. And it's destabilising for outsiders to have a financial interest in players." In April 2015 UEFA and FIFPro spoke out against the practise, stating it should be outlawed. By 2016, FIFA was attempting to tighten rules regarding TPO, which "has been described in some quarters as modern-day slavery." Defence Defenders of the practice