FIFA Connect ID Service

A person merge in FIFA Connect ID means that two FIFA IDs were confirmed to belong to the same person.

One FIFA ID becomes the PRIMARY FIFA ID and remains in use. The other becomes the SECONDARY FIFA ID and must no longer be used.

Around a merge, your Member Association may need to perform one of three different actions. Understanding which scenario applies is the key.

1. Another Member Association performed the merge

This is the simplest scenario.

Your MA receives a Person Merge notification, usually by email. You receive it because FIFA Connect ID knows that your MA is a Data Holder of the Secondary FIFA ID.

The notification tells you that:

Secondary FIFA ID → Primary FIFA ID

Your task is simply to update the corresponding player record in your NRS and replace the Secondary FIFA ID with the Primary FIFA ID. You do not need to perform another merge, send any merge operation to FIFA Connect ID, or call RegisterAsDataHolderOfPerson. The merge has already happened, and because your MA was a Data Holder of the Secondary FIFA ID, it automatically becomes a Data Holder of the Primary FIFA ID.

This process can also be automated. Person Merge notifications can be received through the Connect ID Service Bus and handled automatically or semi-automatically by your NRS. This requires development on your side but can significantly reduce manual work.

See also: Connect ID Notifications.

2. Your Member Association needs to perform the merge

This scenario most commonly occurs during DXP Data Fixing.

DXP has confirmed that two FIFA IDs belong to the same person and identified:

• the Primary FIFA ID, which must remain in use;

• the Secondary FIFA ID, which is the duplicate and must be merged.

If your MA is responsible for the Secondary record, DXP will ask you to perform the merge.

The correction should always start in your own NRS. Depending on your NRS, the exact user operation may look different, but the result must be:

1. your local record uses the correct Primary FIFA ID; and

2. your NRS sends the corresponding merge operation to FIFA Connect ID through the SDK (if your NRS is correctly integrated with the FIFA Connect ID Service, this should happen automatically)

Once the merge is completed, the Secondary FIFA ID can no longer be used.

There is also an important chain reaction: if other Member Associations are Data Holders of the Secondary FIFA ID, they will receive a Person Merge notification. For them, your Scenario 2 becomes Scenario 1: they only need to replace the Secondary FIFA ID with the Primary one in their systems.

See also:

• Data eXchange Platform (DXP) - Step-by-Step Guide to Solving DXP Cases

• Merging rules explained

• Merging: how to decide which record is primary?

• Merging: Understanding Primary and Secondary FIFA IDs After a Merge in Connect ID

3. Your Member Association needs to take over the Primary record

A merge does not necessarily complete all required data fixing.

DXP may additionally ask your MA to take over the Primary FIFA ID, so that the registration stored in FIFA Connect ID correctly reflects the player's current or latest known situation.

For example:

• if the player is currently active in your MA, your MA should add/update the appropriate active registration on the Primary FIFA ID;

• if the player is no longer active, but DXP specifically identifies your MA as the latest relevant association and asks you to take over the record, the appropriate inactive registration may need to be added instead.

The purpose is simple: after the data fixing is complete, FIFA Connect ID should not only contain the correct FIFA ID, but should also represent the correct current or latest known registration state.

Important distinction

Do not add an inactive registration simply because the player historically played in your MA.
FIFA Connect ID does not store the complete registration history, and adding an old inactive registration may overwrite more relevant registration information.
If your MA merely stores a historical record for an existing FIFA ID, use the Data Holders functionality instead.
See also: Data Holders explained.

The easiest way to think about merges

When you encounter a merge-related case, ask:

Who performed, or needs to perform, the merge?

• Someone else already merged the FIFA IDs?
  → Replace the Secondary FIFA ID with the Primary FIFA ID in your NRS.

• DXP asks your MA to perform the merge?
  → Perform the correction in your NRS and make sure the merge is synchronised to FIFA Connect ID.

• DXP additionally asks you to take over the Primary record?
  → Make sure the registration on the Primary FIFA ID correctly represents your MA's current or latest relevant relationship with the player.

In all cases, the final goal is the same: one person, one FIFA ID, and consistent data across all systems.