Alamy

22 February 2023 - 3:14 PM

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Alamy | Jonathan Ian Barnett, British football agent, chairman and founder of ICM Stellar Sports.

Agents to unite in “multiple actions across multiple territories” against FIFA reforms

  • Three leading player agent organisations say they will join forces to legally defeat FIFA’s player agent reforms.
  • Agents warn that the reforms introduced last month will put smaller agencies out of business, fail players and lead to “market failure”.
  • Why it matters: Last month FIFA implemented its biggest changes to the rules governing agents in a generation, but if these are defeated in the courts it will leave the industry unregulated at a global level.
  • The perspective: Leading football executive says said that there was a need for better “policing” of agents after FIFA deregulated the industry in 2015 but questions whether the new rules solved the problem. “Ultimately agents aren’t going anywhere”.

Leading player agent bodies have said they are engaging in coordinated litigation to stop FIFA’s recent agent reforms, saying the changes pose an existential threat to their industry and will lead to “market failure”.

Last month FIFA implemented its biggest changes to the rules governing agents in a generation, introducing basic service standards for football age

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