Forthcoming Rule Changes Affecting All Licensed Players' Agents

I am surprised that the Licensed FIFA Agents on this group are not discussing the upcoming changes in the area of FIFA Agents. As professionally licensed group of individuals this is issue should be of paramount importance and an active discussion topic on this forum.

Let me introduce the issue. For a few years there has appeared to be pressure on FIFA to do away with the regulations governing players agents. The licensing requirements and the liability insurance requirements have functioned as a mechanism at the international and national level to standardize the practice of players' agents. FIFA now wants to do away with this process entirely and allow for what they have termed 'intermediaries'. All the intermediary has to do is register at the local level.

There are many reasons why this could be happening.

1) People who have wanted to become FIFA Agents have failed the exams too many times. As such these people are not able to call themselves Licensed Players' Agents.

2) Unlicensed Agents are already active in 70% of football transactions according to various sources. As such, it appears that FIFA may feel that the current structure is ineffective.

3) Third Party Transactions have become very popular (though banned in several regions) and have resulted in layers of 'ownership' of football players (mostly from South America).

Please take the time to read the new regulations here:

*http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/footballgovernance/02/36/77/63/regulationsonworkingwithintermediaries_neutral.pdf

* http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/bodies/congress/news/newsid=2363136/

* http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/administration/news/newsid=2301236/

There could be many forces driving forces that are pushing FIFA in this direction. Let us look at a few of them.

* Agence France Press reported that at the close of this most recent transfer Europe's big five leagues generted over $3 billion in player transactions (http://news.yahoo.com/manchester-united-confirm-loan-move-radamel-falcao-003816991--sow.html). This is likely the strongest driving force.

A careful read of the regulations will show this statement: "IF THE INTERMEDIARY CONCERNED IS A LEGAL PERSON, the association responsible for registering the transaction will also have to be satisfi ed that the individuals representing the legal entity within the scope of the transaction in question have an impeccable reputation."

This could imply that the intermediary may NOT be a legal person. Does this mean that an intermediary could be:
-- An investment bank?
-- A hedge fund?
-- A sports agency?
-- A marketing agency?
-- A talent agency?
-- A portfolio manager?


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