Top football agents in Great Britain have been successful in their ploy to stall the introduction of new FIFA regulations that will put a cap on their commission to three percent of players’ salaries.
The proposed regulations by the governing body of football were reportedly supposed to be implemented this weekend.
Reports indicate that four of the biggest agencies in England; CAA Base, Wasserman, Stellar, and ARETE, instituted legal action aimed at stopping the FA from implementing FIFA’s changes earlier this summer.
FIFA regulations on football agents
There was a private deliberation last week, held in London and it aimed at settling the difference between both parties.
It has been reported that all parties involved were told on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, that the tribunal will deliver its judgment on or before November 30, 2023.
The delay regarding the introduction of the new rules is due to the fact that a decision has not been reached yet.
The position of the agents is that these limits on commission will not help in reducing costs, but could rather lead to clubs exploring alternative avenues of paying agency fee.
This basically implies that clubs might have to part with other payment methods “known or unknown” to sign the best talents across the globe.
In addition to a three percent commission cap on salaries of players who earn above £161,000, FIFA’s new rules will put a caveat on payments to agents for brokering transfers.
This rule will limit the amounts received by agents to 10% of the transfer fee paid by the buying club.
What was FIFA’s original plan?
FIFA had initially proposed that players should make payments to agents out of their salaries in a bid to cut costs, but that initiative was dropped.
It is common knowledge that based on the current system in place, clubs usually pay the agency fee alongside the bonuses and salaries of the player.
The FA indicated that for about 12 months up to the end of March 2023, Premier League clubs parted with £318.2 million to agents.
Championship clubs also paid £36.3 million in total to agents, and it appears like English football is a gold mine for agents.
Recall in April 2023, that football agents expressed their worry over their future in football after FIFA requested that they sit for exams to get certified.
There was also another exam that took place on September 20, 2023, with a total of 10383 candidates registering for it.
The governing body of football, FIFA, have made it compulsory that from October 1, 2023, agents must be certified and licensed.
The exam conducted in April 2023, saw about 1962 candidates from across the world “obtain the required mark to be issued a license to provide football agent services.”
3,800 candidates sat for the first FIFA football agent exam, and a 52% success rate was recorded.
This forthcoming examination has witnessed an upward increase of above 4,000 applications in comparison to the previous exam.
There are also exams planned for May and September 2024
