How the Fifa rules for sports agents change

Last December 16th Fifa has approved the new Sports Agents Regulation. Reform, or counter-reform if compared to the liberalization of the intermediary activity from 2015 to 2022, which is based on three cornerstones: to carry out the activity of agent, an exam on knowledge of international rules and regulations must be passed; agents cannot represent multiple parties involved in the same transaction – with the exception of the case in which they represent the player and the acquiring club – and there will be a cap on commissions; there creation of Clearinghouse from which all payments of world football will pass.

The regulation will enter into force on 1 October 2023, but the licensing system, with its examination, has already been in force since 9 January. “Fifa aims to have greater professionalism of sports agents. It is no coincidence that Lukaku and Leao turned to lawyers expert in sports law to renew their contracts and, in my experience, more and more players turn to us to take care of their interests. Federico Venturi Ferriolopartner huhhead of sports at LCA law firm.

Fifa aims for greater transparency in football payments, a very topical issue in the Italian system, and would like to avoid, as much as possible, money leaving the movement and never returning to it: “We would like to remind you that sports agents are not members and that in any case their fees go beyond the football system in the strict sense. The reform also includes the possibility for the player to terminate the contract with the agent for just cause and the right of the latter to contact a player, under contract with another agent, in the last two months of the representation agreement, without prejudice to the duration maximum of two years. Furthermore, Fifa extends the assistance of agents to coaches as well, a possibility confirmed in Italy thanks to the law on sports work”, recalls Venturi Ferriolo. This is a theme that risks bringing with it a conflict of interest when the coach asks the club to buy a player represented by his agent.

Fifa, in drawing up the new regulation, only consulted the world union of football players, FIFPro, but did not consult the local associations of coaches, nor those of agents; for both categories there is no single international representation. Indeed, for years the Efaa (European football agents association) and The football forum, an international association of agents, have been preparing for a battle before the Lausanne TAS and the EU Court of Justice.

“At international level, agreements between players and agents prior to December 16th, the date of approval of the Fifa regulations, will remain valid until their natural expiry, those concluded between December 17th 2022 and September 30th 2023, from October 1st 2023, must comply with the new provisions and the agents who signed them must acquire the Fifa license by that date. Finally, the regulation, among other things, provides that players and clubs must stipulate representation contracts with a natural person and no longer with an agency (principle already in force in Italy, where there is a system based on licenses ); therefore all the contracts will have to be reviewed in any case”, comments Federico Venturi Ferriolo.

A reform, however, which protects only one part, that of the players, risks creating new tensions in a sport that needs, and wants, to rethink itself.