Unlike Serie A and Premier League, third-party ownership is allowed in Portugal.
Clubs sold part of the economic rights of their current players to the fund for cash to re-invest on new signing.
It was set up by First Portuguese SGPS S.A., (which in April 2004 was acquired by Grupo Orey to become a major shareholder, via Football Players Funds Management (Cayman) Limited).
The FC Porto section of the fund increased 37.82% in summer 2004, after Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Deco and Pedro Mendes were sold by Porto for a total €74 million;[3] the Sporting CP and Boavista sections that year, meanwhile, were minus 8.87% and minus 3% respectively.
The fund closed in January 2008 after a new FIFA Regulation on the Status and Transfer of Players came in force on 1 January 2008, which the article 18bis wrote: "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.