EXCLUSIVE: Football agents secure minor victory on road to appealing FIFA commission caps

Jacque Talbot

• 8 Nov 2023 12:13 CST
• 3 min read

Exclusive

It was a win for Spanish agents this week after a court in Madrid issued a temporary order instructing FIFA to stop enforcing the recently introduced cap on football agents' fees, as outlined in the new FIFA Regulation.

FIFA introduced a regulation at the end of 2022 called FFAR (Football Agents' Fee Regulation) to regulate the activities of football agents worldwide, and in it was setting a maximum percentage limit on the fees agents could receive in various transactions, depending on whom the agent represented.

FIFA's rationale for these regulations was to address certain issues that it believed had arisen in recent years, though agents have argued that not only would it will severely impact their business model and income, but could violate competition laws.

Several football agents and agents' associations have initiated legal actions against FIFA.

Over the summer, Spanish Association of Football Players' Agents, along with 18 other football agents and agencies, filed a lawsuit against FIFA, as well as asking for interim measures to prevent FIFA from enforcing the FFAR fee cap. On November 6, 2023, the court rules in the agents’ favour, marking a significant win for those opposing FIFA’s legislation.

Mario San Roman, a sports lawyer specialising in La Liga football, has spoken exclusively to FootballTransfers about the result and its ramifications for football agents going forward.

“Well, what I believe is that FIFA wants to change the visa model for football agents where agents would receive a commission on one hand, on the other hand, what is referred to as other services in the regulation, such as scouting or consultancy? Where do they fit in? There are three ways to approach this situation. The first is to get into the system. If you enter the system, you have to accept that the rules of the game have changed, and not with the regulations.

“And the second option is to get leases and into the system, but trouble is that you either end up facing a sanction or, if you are small or medium size agent, you'll legally disappear in the long run.

And finally, you can choose not to enter the system, affecting the risk for both players and coaches as well as for the football agent.

Roman also touched on the representation of agents in the media and how people’s perspective of their job is warped.

“Everyone think that being an agent is simply picking up the phone, dealing with

players, and making lots of money - but they confused being an agent with being a superagent. But the mid-level or smaller agents, who represent around 80 per cent of 90 per cent of the market, that’s not the case. Being an agent is not just about calling a club; it’s about being with a player from a very young age, acting as a mentor, handling social media, negotatiing contracts, among other things. It’s a comprehensive service to the player, looking after every aspect of their well being.

Roman continued: “Anyone who claims that an agent doesn't work or earns millions for just making a couple of calls, I will invite them to spend a day with an establish agent, because do you know how many days of football is staying away from home? Do people realize that you have to sacrifice your personal life to be an agent?

Because I have client who spend more than 250 days away from home and that person has family they hardly get to. It is sacrificing time with the family and friends for a project, you know. So I say that talking is very easy.”