FIFA has applauded the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision issued on Monday, which completely upholds the legality, validity, and proportionality of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR).
The FFAR are an important development in FIFA’s reform of the football transfer system, as part of the organization’s strategic goal of modernising the football regulatory framework, and will govern the activities of football agents in player transfers.
FIFA approved the agent rules last year that are due to take effect on Oct. 1 after thousands of agents worldwide have had the chance to take a $600 examination in either April or September.
The most controversial aspect of the rules limit an agent’s earnings at 10% of a transfer fee when they act for the selling club.
Elite agencies have earned tens of millions of dollars from transfers for players like Erling Haaland and Paul Pogba, and FIFA has said agents earned $622 million from international cross-border transfer deals in 2022.
FIFA also wants to limit agents to taking 3% of a player’s salary when those earnings are more than $200,000 per year, or 5% when the player earns up to $200,000. Those limits would be 6% and 10%, respectively, when the agent acted for both the player and the club signing them.
FIFA also wants to prohibit player agents from representing both the buying and selling clubs in a transfer.
The prize reflects the first comprehensive legal examination of the FFAR’s legality by an impartial panel of renowned specialists. The FFAR was implemented after extensive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. The judgement validates FIFA’s argument that the FFAR are a legitimate and proportionate regulatory instrument that aids in the resolution of systemic flaws in the player transfer system.
FIFA emphasises that the verdict validates its regulatory authority to supervise the activities of football agents in the transfer system, as well as the legality of important FFAR regulations.
The service fee cap, the prohibition on multiple representation, and the principle that only licenced football agents may provide football agent services are among the provisions that will improve contractual stability, ensure that football agents’ interests are aligned with those of their clients, raise professional and ethical standards, and protect the smooth operation of the player transfer system.
FIFA believes that this award will provide legal certainty to all football stakeholders concerning the integrity of the football agent regulatory structure, including in connection to ongoing disputes.
The FFAR were adopted following a long and inclusive consultation process involving players, clubs, leagues, national football associations and football agent organisations, and were implemented by FIFA as part of its comprehensive transfer system reform. In line with the FFAR, the obligation to use only licensed football agents will come into force on 1 October 2023.
CAS is the worldwide supreme body for sports-related disputes and is fully recognised by FIFA under article 56 of the FIFA Statutes.
