The European Commission said today it was studying new proposals from soccer's world governing body FIFA on reforming the player transfer system.
Representatives of FIFA, its European counterpart UEFA and the Commission had been due to meet in Brussels tomorrow to try to reach an agreement on a new transfer system.
But world soccer chiefs today asked for the meeting to be postponed. FIFA said in a statement its latest proposals had only just been finalised and more time was needed for all the parties to consider them.
FIFA said it had sent the new document to UEFA, the players' union, FIFPro, and to the European Commission, the European Union's executive body.
"We have received the new document from FIFA which the Commission services are studying," Commission spokeswoman Amelia Torres said.
She declined further comment on the document which builds on one that football authorities submitted to the Commission last October.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter told BBC radio he believed the meeting would probably now be held next Tuesday.
However Torres said no new date had yet been set. The Commission argues the existing transfer rules break EU laws on fair competition and the right of all workers to ply their trade freely in the 15-nation Union.
In December the Commission rejected two separate proposals on the issue from the joint FIFA/UEFA transfer Task Force. The main sticking point is the future status of the contract between player and club. - Reuters