FIFA impose limits on agent commission from transfers

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:47 CDT
• 2 min read

FIFA has announced that it is imposing new regulations that will limit the amount of commission that agents can make from player transfers and salaries.

The new rules, which will come into effect next year, will cap commission for agents at 3% of a player’s salary if they are representing the player or the buyer.

The commission will be capped at 6% if the agent is representing both the player and the buyer. The maximum amount that an agent who is representing a selling club can earn from a transfer is 10% of its overall value.

The earnings of agents will also be made public as FIFA go back on its decision in 2015 to deregulate agents.

Agents will also be forbidden from representing a player and both the buying and selling club during a transfer deal.

FIFA has also moved to restrict football administrators – such as club and national association officials – from owning a stake in player agencies.

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Family members will be forbidden from representing players in a transfer negotiation unless they are a fully licenced agent.

FIFA’s director of football regulatory James Kitching stated: “If I’m telling somebody, ‘I’ll take 10%’, somebody might think that’s a small number and that’s fine. But if it’s 10% of £20 million, that changes the perception. We need to change the perception and the activity in the market.

“Many of the practices which we describe as excessive and abusive derive from the types of commission payments that we’re describing right now. What we’re trying to do is bring in basic service standards.

“I’m not saying large numbers automatically lead to abusive practices, but an agent who acts on your behalf has a fiduciary duty to act in your best interests. Sometimes big numbers may cause an agent to not act in the best interests of the client.”

FIFA moved to make these changes after discovering that almost half a billion pounds was spent on commission fees in 2019.