MADRID, 6 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Commercial Court number 3 of Madrid has agreed to the precautionary suspension of the limit on the fees of football players’ agents imposed by FIFA, considering the demand requested by the Spanish Association of Football Players’ Agents (AEAF) and by a large group made up of some of the most important soccer player agencies
important in the country regarding the new Football Agent Regulations (FFAR) and the limits it imposes on the collection of fees by representatives.
According to the order to which Europa Press has had access, dated November 2, FIFA must “refrain from applying articles 15.1 and
15.2 of the FFAR, and must respect the status quo prior to the FFAR regarding the absence of limitations on agents’ fees, while the processing of this procedure lasts.”
Furthermore, this precautionary measure also affects the RFEF, which must also refrain from “transposing the aforementioned articles into its own regulations.” Given this ruling, an appeal can be filed, “without suspensive effects”, before this same court within a period of 20 days from the notification of this document and which will be resolved by the Provincial Court of Madrid.
This ruling means that neither of the two organizations will be able to apply the limitations on agents’ fees in those transactions linked to the Spanish market, as recently happened in Germany, after a Dortmund Court had upheld a similar claim.
FIFA has wanted to impose a limitation on the fees of footballers’ agents and has modified its regulations so that they receive a maximum of 5 percent of the player’s annual remuneration if this is less than or equal to $200,000, and if it is higher, the percentage decreases to 3 percent.
Furthermore, if the agent has dual representation, both the footballer and his future club, the limitation is a maximum of 10 percent of an annual salary of less than $200,000 and a maximum of 6 for amounts that exceed that figure. And if he only represents the club of origin, he may charge a maximum of 10 percent of the transfer value.
This decision is based on the consideration that said limitation could be contrary to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the Law on the Defense of Competition (LDC) and considers an action directed and coordinated by lawyers specialized in Sports Law. Rodrigo García Lucas, partner at Laffer Abogados, and Mario
Resino Sastre, partner of ESQUAD Abogados, while the legal direction was assumed by the partners of the Procedural and Competition Law area of Garrigues, Ana Garrote and Oriol Armengol, respectively.