Zurich (AFP)

FIFA on Wednesday approved a set of rules governing player transfers and which plan to cap the commission of agents from the season 2020/2021 and limit the lending of players to foreign clubs.

In the face of the inflation of the commissions affected by certain agents, the commission of the "partners" of Fifa decided to cap at 6% the commission of an agent on the total amount of a transfer.

This commission may be up to 10% paid by the selling club for an agent who has negotiated the transfer agreement with the club that hires.

Fifa will also reinstate an agent license issued by each federation.

For Fifa, the current regulatory framework for agents "produces undesirable results", the market being "dictated by speculation and not by solidarity," according to a confidential document consulted by AFP.

In 2016, Italian agent Mino Raiola received EUR 27 million from Juventus for the transfer of more than EUR 100 million from Paul Pogba to Manchester United, representing more than 25% of commissions.

To better supervise them, these commissions will be paid to a clearing house created by Fifa before being paid to the agents. This chamber will also be responsible for passing on to clubs the training allowances of transferred players.

Another decision, the limitation to 8 the number of players loaned by a club to foreign clubs from the season 2020/2021. The rule applies to players over 21 years old. Up to 21 years, the number of loans is unlimited.

This figure will fall to 7 from 2021/22 and to 6 from 2022/23.

Many clubs, "especially those from the Big 5 championships, accumulate players" in the form of loans, including to weaken the competition, laments FIFA.

Over the period 2011-2017, "the record of the number of players lent by a single club has thus risen to 146," said the document consulted by AFP.

Fifa will also increase the compensation paid to clubs by clubs that recruit a player.

The principles of this reform will be submitted for approval at the next meeting of the FIFA Council on October 24 in Shanghai, China, before being integrated into the FIFA regulations for the 2020/2021 season.

© 2019 AFP