FIFA: entry into force of the new Regulations for its agents

The main ambition of the Regulations is to raise the standards of the agent function and to define minimum professional and ethical standards to govern the agent function and the services provided to clients, with in particular:

• creating a system ofissuance of licenses personal and non-transferable compulsory (Article 8 of the Regulations), the compulsory license having been abandoned in 2017 by FIFA: the license application procedure has been open since Monday 9 January 2023 on the new Agent Platform available on the FIFA website.

• prohibition of multi-representation in order to avoid conflicts of interest (Article 12 of the Regulations): an agent may therefore only provide agent services or other services for one party in the context of a transaction, at the exception of the following case of permitted dual representation: an agent may provide agent services or other services for an individual and an inbound entity under the same transaction provided that both clients have given their written consent beforehand;

• the capping of agents' commissions (Article 15 of the Rules): the commission (service allowance) is thus capped within a range of between 3% and 6% of the annual salary if the agent represents the player and/or the purchasing club and 10% on the transfer if the agent represents the selling club.

These Regulations govern the function of agent within the framework of the international system of transfers and applies to all representation agreements with an international dimension or any activity related to an international transfer or an international transaction.

All of these provisions aim to strengthen contractual stability, protect the integrity of the transfer system and achieve greater financial transparency..

If the procedure for obtaining the agent license has been effective since January 9, 2023, a transition period is planned concerning the obligation to use exclusively licensed agents as well as the capping of commissions, which will come into force from 1^er October 2023 (Article 22 of the Rules).

With regard to dispute resolution, the Regulations reintroduce the FIFA dispute resolution system for disputes arising from or in connection with a representation agreement with an international dimension. FIFA, through the Chamber of Agents of the Football Tribunal, will deal from 1^er October 2023 of any dispute of international dimension concerning the representation agreements concluded between an agent and a client.

Each member association must implement a national regulation on agents and ensure its application by September 30, 2023 (Article 3 of the Regulations). These national regulations shall govern the function of agent in the territory under the jurisdiction of the association and will apply to all representation agreements that are not international in scope. These national regulations must comply with the Regulations and incorporate certain mandatory provisions of the Regulations.

We hope that the entry into force of these Regulations will make it possible to regulate the profession of agents and protect the various actors from any abusive practice.