Fulham defender Nicky Shorey has irked the ire of FIFA by playing for three different clubs during the course of a season.
The 28-year-old full-back made his first appearance for Fulham during the 1-0 victory over Portsmouth at Craven Cottage on Wednesday, having already appeared for Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest this term.
World football's governing body has expressed unhappiness over the situation in England, where a player can play for more than two clubs in a season due to a loophole in the system.
Shorey signed for the Cottagers from Villa having already played nine games for Forest on an emergency loan. He has received backing from the Premier League, the FA, and the Football League, due to the loan to Forest being classified as an emergency.
A FIFA spokesman said: "FIFA are concerned about the system of emergency loans in general and have approached the Football Association on various occasions in the past regarding this. FIFA will be contacting them again in order to obtain clarification with regard to this issue.
"Generally speaking, and with regard to the application of the pertinent rule, ie. Article 5 Paragraph 3 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, the regulation should be applied as stated."
The above mentioned rule indicates that a player can be registered with a maximum of three clubs while representing only two of them per season, with the only exception being a transfer between clubs that have overlapping seasons.
A spokesman for the FA said: "Emergency loans don't count when calculating the number of clubs a player has played for as he remains under contract to his parent club."