Fifa halts new regulations for football agents

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Fifa has abruptly suspended new global regulations for football agents on the eve of the January transfer window, in the latest legal reverse for an international sporting organisation.

Football’s global governing body unveiled new rules for football agents late last year and brought them into effect in October. The changes include a written exam for those seeking to work as licensed agents, a change to the way player representatives are paid and — most controversially — a limit on the fees agents can charge. 

Talent agencies responded with legal challenges in several countries, arguing that the fee cap was anti-competitive and would reduce their turnover from football by about 50 per cent. A case brought in Germany resulted in an injunction against the rules and ultimately forced Fifa to halt their introduction globally.

In a letter sent to member federations on Saturday, Fifa said it suspended the new rules globally to comply with the German ruling and “protect competitive balance at a worldwide level”, but that it had already launched an appeal.

“Fifa remains convinced that the [new regulations] are a necessary, proportionate and fully legal regulatory step to address systemic failures within the international transfer system”, the Zurich-based organisation added. “Not only all football stakeholders, but also all European political authorities have confirmed the importance of such a regulatory framework.”

Agents had warned that pushing ahead with the new rules would result in a chaotic January transfer window during which some — but not all — countries would have imposed the cap on fees. French law in effect protects agents’ fees, while this month a UK tribunal ruled that the cap went against national competition law. 

Fifa’s rationale for the new rules was to raise standards in the industry and reduce the amount of money spent by clubs and players on agents.

Figures published this month by the Fifa show that agents’ fees increased 43 per cent this year to a record of $888mn, while only a third of the 9,207 people who sat the new exam, which lasts an hour and consists of 20 multiple choice questions on Fifa regulations and the transfer market, had passed. 

A number of the big global agencies that led the legal challenges, such as CAA and Wasserman, had welcomed Fifa’s attempts to increase the barriers to entry in the industry and root out bad practices, but baulked at the notion of having their earnings subjected to a hard limit.

While agents can typically earn fees equal to about 10 per cent of a player’s salary, the new rules would have introduced a limit of 6 per cent. Payment of fees would also be spread out over a multiyear contract under the rules, rather than the bulk arriving up front. 

Fifa said it hoped its appeal in Germany would be heard early in 2024. Lawyers and agents expect the case to end up in front of the European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court, some time in 2025.

The ECJ this month ruled against Fifa and Uefa, the European governing body for football, in a closely watched case related to the failed European Super League set up in 2021. In its judgment, the ECJ said Fifa and Uefa had acted unlawfully in threatening to impose sanctions on players and clubs that joined the breakaway league.