Agents speak out against new FIFA Regulations

EI Diario AS and the consulting firm Above Sport called a meeting of agents and representatives of footballers in which the new regulation that FIFA wants to impose and it will come into effect on January 1, 2022.

In the new regulations, FIFA will demand compliance with certain requirements to obtain the agent's license, the rights and obligations will be marked, there will be sanctions, the representation of minors will be regulated … But the point that has raised the most controversial is that of remuneration, as it imposes a series of limits on the commissions to be received by agents: A) 10% calculated on the amount of the transfer for agents acting in favor of the selling club. B) 3% calculated on the player's salary in favor of those agents acting on behalf of a player. C) 3% calculated on the player's salary in favor of those agents who act on behalf of the acquiring club. All payments will also have to be made through the Clearing House.

The debate, divided into two tables, was moderated by Gonzalo Jiménez, communication director of the consulting firm Above Sport.

Pedro Bravo, president of the Association of Agents of Spanish Soccer Players (AEAF), was the most direct: “We agree that they require training. We want everyone who entered 2015, who has fewer papers than a stolen donkey, to pass an exam. The problem is that with the deregulation that FIFA did in 2015, it went from 300 agents in Spain to 1,030, and to more than 22,000 worldwide. We have asked the RFEF to regulate it, but the agents for the RFEF we have only been 861 euros per year. I have sent them abusive contracts from some agents that demanded 25 percent from the player and the RFEF has not answered me. And then there is the investment funds, through which all kinds of percentages can be charged. Now FIFA tells you that you are going to charge 3% from the player and another 3% from the club, a total of 6%, but then the Tax Agency comes to you and tells you that nothing is wrong, that 6% is being paid by the player. . ”.

“In Spain the client is the player. In England it is 50 percent between player and club, but not here ”, intercedes Ginés Carvajal, who continued: “In Spain there are 1,030 agents, and between First and Second there are 1,050 players. The profession is being prostituted a lot. To the new ones I recommend good luck, because it is almost impossible to be an agent now ”. Kenneth Asquez also points to the clubs: “For FIFA we are just a headache, but the problem is that there are clubs that agree to pay high percentages. It is not normal for United to pay 20 million percent for Pogba ”.

“We are a necessary commodity and we help clubs earn money. We are not NGOs, obviously ”, says agent José Rodríguez, while Álvaro Torres affirms: “With 3% it doesn't work. They promote the intermediary, who are the ones who inflate the market prices. Intermediary is the person who unites this person and this other, takes the money and flies. We are not the agents ”.

Pedro BravoAs president and with 27 years of profession behind him, he was very direct in all his interventions: “Our greatest enemy has been that whoever had to regulate us has not regulated us. The Sports Law is from 1990. 31 years have passed and nothing has changed. And then there is FIFA. Legally, in Spain the agents are illegal. Labor mediation that is not free to a worker is prohibited and, however, we do labor mediation. FIFA had this deregulated. There was neither the requirement to know how to read and write, nor that it was necessary to present a certificate of criminal record, and then the sausages, the gulls and the wicked are the agents? Of course there were those who did these outrages! But, for example, FIFA has just banned Blater for six years and eight months for, they say, not complying with the code of ethics. All of us who know about this can use a euphemism for that which is much less healthy. What FIFA says may be valid for other countries, but in Spain it is nonsense because article 1006/85 prohibits labor intermediation for players, and the worker's statute also prohibits it. And then there is the question of having to give absolutely all the data of an operation. Transparency is very good and we do not refuse, but what about the data protection law? Let them start doing it from Ceferín (UEFA president) down.

Ginés Carvajal, Historic player representative, including Raúl, is proud of the profession, but sees that it is getting worse and worse and there are more obstacles: “Players are increasingly being recruited at a younger age. I wish they could be captured when they were 18 years old and that they had already done something. Now you get the parents of a 12-year-old boy who has not played anywhere and who already want a representative. In Spain there are 1,030 agents, and between First and Second there are 1,050 players, of which a third are not nationals and their agents are from abroad. Just under 700 players for just over 1,000 agents. There are many highly trained agents with university degrees, but there is also a lot to…. The important thing here is that you call a club president on the phone and they pick up the phone for you. That is what experience gives you. Instead, now you receive offers from a lot of people who say they are agents but ask you to give them a power of attorney to represent a footballer and present him to a club. Bad thing if they ask for a power of attorney to go to a club … The profession is being prostituted a lot. To new ones who want to be agents, I would recommend good luck, because it is almost impossible to be an agent at those times.. I think it's very good that FIFA wants to control and asks for transparency, the problem is that they don't know what they have to control.

Kenneth asquez, agent and representative, is based in Gibraltar and its main specialty is the Premier League: “The problem came when in 2015 FIFA stopped regulating this. It is as if we were a headache for them, some bastard children of a king that you have never wanted and there he leaves us stranded. Now he wants to regularize it. Okay, but they don't know what to regulate. The problem is that there are clubs that accept to pay very high percentages and to see how you tell them that they should not do it. Because It is not normal for Mancheter United, for example, to agree to pay 20 million percent for the signing of Pogba ”.

Jose Rodriguez He is one of the veteran Spanish representatives. Founder of Promoesport, today he represents, among others, Adama Traoré, Carlos Soler, Soria, Maksimovic…. He defends the sector, but also its legality: “We are a necessary asset and we help clubs earn money. We are not NGOs, obviously. Agents in the RFEF I don't know if we are 1,800, but of course, then there are the unofficial ones, so in the end in Spain there may be 5,000 or 6,000 people who move players. That means that there are many people who go out to earn a living, that there is a lot of intrusion, that there are poorly trained people who run over and, in the end, it ends up being a stained sector ”.

Alvaro Torres is a partner and director of world soccer for You First Sports. They represent, among others, the international Fabián, Gerard Moreno… Youfirst is an international agency with a presence in 12 countries and represents more than 800 athletes. In 2018, YFS entered the TOP 20 of the Forbes list worldwide, ranking as the first Spanish sports agency globally: “With the 3 percent they want to raise, it doesn't give. They promote the intermediary, who are the ones who inflate the market prices. FIFA is very much to blame for the confusion that exists because we have been changing the terminology of what we are. The current regulation is an intermediary regulation. I do not consider myself an intermediary. Intermediary is the one who unites this person and this other, takes the money and flies. That is not the agents. We do continuous work with the footballer and with their families, we give them many services, we give them stability, balance … Let's hope they fix it. There are very good agents and there are also pirates. Agents help the clubs a lot. We are the main source of information for the clubs ”.

Alberto Dominguez He is the coordinator of the Sports & Life Group agency. They represent, among others, Brahim, Bartra… They were born in 2018 and Iniesta's transfer to Japanese football was their starting gun: “Agents are not intermediaries. Agents not only negotiate a contract, we provide an extra service. And that extra service is what we are living for. We advise the player, because money is not just having it, you have to know how to use it. We look for a house for them, how to invest, we organize them until birthdays, as I say ”.