FIFA's new regulations for players' agents will come into force on Monday, including the reintroduction of a license, the ban on multiple representation and capping commissions, the International Federation announced on Friday.
This new regulation was adopted in December in Doha by the FIFA Council, which sees in it “a decisive step (…) in the establishment of a fairer and more transparent transfer system in football”.
“The regulation makes it possible to establish minimum standards to regulate the function of agent and the services provided to clients, with in particular the creation of a system for issuing compulsory licenses, the prohibition of multiple representation in order to avoid conflicts of interest or even the capping of agents' commissions, "said Fifa in a press release, which thus hopes to" strengthen contractual stability, protect the integrity of the transfer system and achieve greater financial transparency.
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New FIFA Football Agent Regulations set to come into force
☑️ Follows extensive consultation process
☑️ Rules guarantee minimum professional and ethical standards, with mandatory licensing system
More info 👉 https://t.co/CNTqQfS6RH pic.twitter.com/PFDYOJcnMn
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) January 6, 2023
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The procedure for obtaining an agent license will be effective from Monday but "a transition period is planned concerning the obligation to use exclusively licensed agents as well as the ceiling on commissions, which will enter into force on October 1, 2023”, detailed Fifa.
This new regulation is supposed to remedy the lack of regulation governing the profession of agent since the abolition of licenses by Fifa in 2015. Since that date, only certain federations still control their skills and their activity, as in France where they must pass a examination and where their accounts can be submitted since 2017 to the DNCG, the financial policeman of football.
Commission capping
The International Center for Sports Studies (CIES) in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, thus denounced in 2018 “a
Far West
situation at the bottom of the ladder”, with fierce competition between intermediaries, “and a high level of concentration in the most lucrative segments", controlled by a handful of star agents.
The other recurring criticism against agents concerns their remuneration, which is mainly indexed to the amount of transfers rather than to the players' salaries, encouraging them to push for a change of club.
Fifa intends to put an end to this system with a ceiling on commissions set between 3% and 6% of the annual salary, if the agent represents the player and/or the buying club, and at 10% on transfer compensation if he represents the selling club.
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