A group of leading agents including Mino Raiola, Jonathan Barnett, and Jorge Mendes has hit back at FIFA over upcoming changes to its regulatory framework that seek to limit the role of intermediaries in the transfer system.

FIFA expects to implement a ten per cent cap on agents' commissions by March 2021, requiring all agents to have signed up by January 2022, and a cap of three per cent of the player's pay for player agents and agents of engaging clubs.

"Elements of professional football are in need of review and reform, but FIFA's proposals must be fair, transparent and justified," a spokesperson for The Football Forum (TFF) told offthepitch.com.

"There are a complex range of issues within football, and, as with the salary caps that are currently being discussed, this is an attempt to kick the can down the road, rather than tackling the harder issues that are damaging the game". 

Established in 2019, TFF is an international movement of football agents and players who aim to identify, implement, and develop the best professional practice of agency in the game. Raiola, who represents players such as Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, acts as the organisation's president.

"Vital part of the life of a footballer"

FIFA is expected to soon meet with agent organisations, member associations and professional game stakeholders to discuss the new regulatory framework but it appears as if the battle lines have been drawn before talks commence.

Striking a more solemn tone than when Raiola earlier this year compared FIFA to a "communist dictator who tells people what they have to do at all times", TFF defended the role of the highly debated intermediaries – though it did not hesitate to highlight the potential damage of the new restrictions.

"Serious agents are a vital part of the life of a footballer. Diminishing the capacity of agents to work freely and closely with players and clubs will create cracks in the football ecosystem," the spokesperson said.

"Agents provide expert advice, insight, facilitation, and procurement services for both clubs and players. Crucially though, agents have a duty of care to players, ensuring that they are fairly rewarded for their level of ability during their short careers". 

Global spending on intermediaries in 2019 rose 19 per cent to €554 million, its highest level ever. Premier League clubs are the biggest global spenders and last season paid out a total €356.2 million in agent fees. 

Clubs in Europe's top five leagues may have spent more than €2 billion less on players this summer than they did last year, but a series of high-profile transfer still took place in no doubt thanks to the football's influential intermediaries. 

Offthepitch.com has taken a look at the agents behind the window's 50 biggest transfers. Unsurprisingly, Jorge Mendes' agency, Gestifute, was involved in more deals than any others from the list which includes 39 different agencies and intermediaries. But other known firms also played their part.

FIFA is set to implement a series of regulations limiting the role of agents in the transfer system after its Football Stakeholders Committee last year recommended agents of releasing clubs should receive a maximum payment of ten per cent from any transfer fee among other things. 

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the full list.

The big names

Serbia based LIAN Sports Group, which is headed by Pedro Pereira, was involved in two transfers: Mirelam Pjanic's €60 million transfer to Barcelona and Leroy Sane's €45 million transfer to Bayern Munich. The firm also represents players such as Luka Jovic, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Marcos Alonso.

The firm, which as of last year managed contracts worth €659 million, according to Forbes, negotiated nearly €424 million in contracts and transfers over the two years leading up to August 2019.

Meanwhile, Stellar Football Ltd, the agency chaired by Jonathan Barnett, oversaw the €50.2 million transfer of Ben Chilwell to Chelsea, the €26 million transfer of Jeremy Doku to Stade Rennais, and the €21 million transfer of Sergino Dest to FC Barcelona. 

Forbes last year named Barnett the world's most powerful sports agent and his firm Stellar Football Ltd has contracts worth €1.1 billion in its portfolio.

Global spending on intermediaries in 2019 rose 19 per cent to €554 million, its highest level ever. Premier League clubs are the biggest global spenders and last season paid out a total €356.2 million in agent fees.  

Family representation

The number of players who are represented by their families has increased in recent years and didn't appear to stop this summer. Accordingly, Mauro Icardi, Rodrigo Moreno Machado (Rodrigo), and Jude Bellingham were seemingly represented by their families in their transfers, in addition to Arthur who moved from Barcelona to Juventus. 

Mauro Icardi's wife, Wanda Nara, is known to be heavily involved in the player's contract negotiations. Bellingham is reportedly represented by his father as is Rodrigo.

The biggest transaction this year was the €80 million transfer of Kai Havertz to Chelsea. The former Bayer Leverkusen striker is represented by the German agency Spielerrat, who also acts on the behalf of players such as Serge Gnabry and Lukasz Fabianski.

Amsterdam-based Wasserman was involved in two of the biggest transfers: Nathan Ake's €45.3 million move to Manchester City and Rhian Brewster's €26 million switch to Sheffield United. The firm, who is also active in basketball, hockey and American football, has contracts worth €3.6 billion in its management and was last year named the second-most powerful agency in the world behind Creative Artists Agency (CAA). 

CAA's CAA Sports division has since 2008 worked with sports marketing management firm Polaris Sports to jointly represent the commercial rights of some of the world's top players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodríguez, Bernardo Silva, and João Félix. Polaris Sports is a branch of Gestifute. 

Jorge Mendes' Wolves ties

Gestifute had a role to play in four of the 50 biggest transfers: Ruben Dias' €68 million transfer to Manchester City, Diogo Jota's €44.7 million transfer to Liverpool, and the transfers of Fabio Silva and Nelson Semedo to Wolves for €40 million and €30 million, respectively.

Silva is officially represented by the agency Soccer Talents Vision (STV), who received €3 million from the transfer, while Gestifute was paid €7 million, according to a stock exchange release from Porto. 

Other deals involving Gestifute clients this summer was the transfer of James Rodriguez to Everton, Tottenham's loan with a €40 million option to buy of Benfica's Carlos Vinicius, Matt Doherty to Tottenham Hotspur (€16.8 million), Hélder Costa to Leeds United (€17.7 million), Nélson Semedo from Barcelona (€30 million) and the loan move of Vitinha from Porto to Wolves.

Questions have previously been raised over Mendes' ties to Wolverhampton's Chinese owner Fosun, who in 2015 bought 15 per cent of Gestifute's parent company, Start SGPS, for about €42 million. The relationship is approved by the FA.  

Eight of Wolverhampton's players are represented by Gestifute: Ruben Neves, Daniel Podence, Rui Patricio, Nelson Semedo, Pedro Neto, Joao Moutinho, Rayan Aït Nouri, and Vitinha. Gestifute also represents Wolves manager Nuno Espírito Santo and Tottenham's Jose Mourinho. 

FIFA is set to implement a series of regulations limiting the role of agents in the transfer system as part of a showdown with football's highly influential intermediaries.

The new regulatory framework is expected to be ready in March 2021 and agents are required to have signed up by January 2022, FIFA told offthepitch.com.

FIFA's Football Stakeholders Committee in September last year recommended agents of releasing clubs should receive a maximum payment of ten per cent from any transfer fee, and a cap of three per cent of the player's pay for player agents and agents of engaging clubs.

Global spending on intermediaries in 2019 rose 19 per cent to €554 million, its highest level ever. Premier League clubs are the biggest global spenders and last season paid out a total €356.2 million in agent fees.  

Agents threaten legal action

International football's governing body will soon meet with agent organisations, member associations and professional game stakeholders to discuss the new regulatory framework.

"As a part of the ongoing reform of the football transfer system, the development of the new regulatory framework for football agents is progressing. Draft regulations have been developed on the basis of the September 2019 principles," FIFA said.

However, FIFA is likely to receive opposition from agents who have been vocally opposed to limiting their influence.

Leading agents including Mino Raiola, Jorge Mendes and Jonathan Barnett in January threatened the body with legal action over its plans. Raiola even compared FIFA to a "communist dictator who tells people what they have to do at all times". 

"We want fairness. FIFA should recognise us and treat us in a proper manner," Barnett said at the time. 

The trio were last year behind a letter sent to multiple football associations including the UK's warning legal action would be taken against them if they failed to prevent the new regulations.

"Significant negative impact" of multiple representation

FIFA is also seeking to limit multiple representation, a practice it said was "extremely common".

"In its assessment of the football transfer system, FIFA has identified multiple representation as a practice which has a significant negative impact on both the reputation and underlying objectives of the football transfer system," FIFA said

"Therefore, it will be addressed through the new regulatory framework." 

Furthermore, following international deregulation of the football agent industry since 2015, the organisation said it through research and consultation had found "significant abusive and excessive conduct by football intermediaries"; that "the market is driven by speculation and not solidarity"; and "significant conflicts of interests", in addition to:

• Disproportionality of market power; 
• Limited protection of players; 
• Decrease in professional standards and quality of services provided by agents; 
• Money flowing away from the football family; and 
• Greater contractual instability.

FIFA said the creation of the new framework was aligned with other reforms such as the creation of the new FIFA Clearing House where all agents' commissions are to be paid, and further strengthening of existing and future integrity enforcement mechanisms.

"Additionally, FIFA is increasing its efforts in regulatory enforcement by creating different reporting obligations and to improve the levels of accountability for the benefit of all of its stakeholders to discourage all circumvention of the agreed rules of such kind."

It caught headlines when it was revealed last week that Jorge Mendes' agent firm, Gestifute, received €7 million of the €40 million transfer fee Wolverhampton this summer paid Porto for Fabio Silva - corresponding to around a sixth of the total amount. 

But Gestifute's seemingly large compensation for the transfer of a player it does not even represent is not unusual, an investigation offthepitch.com has conducted into publicly available records from the Portuguese stock market can reveal.

When Rui Patricio transferred from Sporting to Wolverhampton for €18 million in 2018 the firm received €4 million in compensation, almost a fifth of the total fee. However, according to a stock release by the Portuguese club, the original amount Gestifute was demanding was €9 million – half the total amount of the transfer fee.

Gestifute did not wish to comment when contacted by offthepitch.com.

Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho at the time accused Gestifute of blackmail, something the firm denied. According to the statement from Sporting, the final sum was lowered only due to the simultaneous sale of Adrien Silva to Leicester.

Ederson stands out

When Ederson was bought by Manchester City from Benfica for €40 million in 2017 he became the second-most expensive goalkeeper in the world at the time. However, the Portuguese club were only able to record a profit of less than half the total transfer fee at €16 million due to compensation for intermediaries and third-party ownership.

A full €24 million was split between Gestifute, who was reportedly entitled to 20 per cent of the fee, and his former club Rio Ave who were entitled to 30 per cent of the fee, and the intermediaries on the transaction. FIFA has since banned third-party ownership.

Since Mendes became involved with Wolverhampton when their Chinese owner Fosun in 2015 bought 15 per cent of Gestifute's parent company, Start SGPS, for about €42 million, the firm has profited nicely from dealing with the Premier League club.

Of Raul Jimenez' €38 million transfer to Wolverhampton in 2019, Benfica could record a profit of €23 million despite having amortised more than two thirds of the €22 million fee they paid Atletico Madrid for him in 2015. More than a third of the transfer fee, €14.9 million, was assigned to intermediaries, i.e. Gestifute (and possibly others), and to write off his net book value.

When Willy Boly transferred from Porto to Wolverhampton in 2018 for €12 million, €6.4 million was paid to intermediaries and to write off his net book value. 

Rising agent fees

Global spending on intermediaries last year rose 19 per cent to €554 million, according to FIFA. Since Wolverhampton were promoted to the Premier League in 2018 their spending on agents has risen from €2.2 million in the 2017/18 season to €9.4 million last season. 

That remains in the lower end among clubs in the Premier League, however, with Liverpool's €49.7 million paid out in the 2019/20 season being the highest amount ever. Among European clubs Dortmund were the second-biggest spenders that season, having paid out €44.5 million to intermediaries.

The Premier League in total last season paid out €356.2 million in agent fees.  

FIFA's Football Stakeholders Committee in 2019 recommended a cap on agents' commissions of ten per cent for agents of the releasing club, three per cent of the player's remuneration for player agents, and three per cent of the player's remuneration for agents of engaging clubs 

It also recommended to limit multiple representation to avoid conflicts of interest. No such measures have yet been implemented. 

Agent Jorge Mendes' firm Gestifute was paid €7 million of the €40 million transfer fee Wolverhampton last week paid Porto for Fabio Silva, according to a release on the Portuguese stock exchange, despite apparently not representing the sought-after youngster.

Questions have previously been raised over Mendes' ties to Wolverhampton's Chinese owner Fosun, who in 2015 bought 15 per cent of Gestifute's parent company, Start SGPS, for about €42 million.

Of the transfer fee Wolverhampton paid for Silva, Soccer Talents Vision (STV), who appears to represent Silva, was also paid €3 million. 

Despite having only played 12 league matches last season for the Portuguese champions, Silva's €40 million price tag makes him one of the most expensive 18-year-olds in the game – and Wolves' most expensive signing ever - behind only Real Madrid's Vinicius whom the Spanish club paid €45 million for in 2018.

Wide ranging representation

When asked by offthepitch.com what role Gestifute played in the transfer, Wolverhampton said it was a question for Porto - not Wolves. Porto did not immediately respond to request for comment.  

According to Transfermarkt, seven of Wolverhampton's players are represented by Gestifute: Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota, Daniel Podence, Rui Patricio, Pedro Neto, Joao Moutinho, and Vitinha. 

Gestifute also represents Wolves manager Nuno Espírito Santo and Tottenham's Jose Mourinho. 

The Portuguese attorney's office in March searched Mendes as part of an investigation into tax evasion and money laundering at some of the country's biggest clubs. 

Worth more than €8.5 billion, The Fosun group, which encompasses a range of operations controlled by Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang, bought Wolverhampton for about €50 million in 2016. 

The club's chairman, Jeff Shi, last year said it was looking to sell a stake in the club in order to assess an eventual public listing of the West Midlands club. 

Liverpool for the second year in a row were the biggest spenders on agents among Premier League clubs, according to the FA's just-published annual recording of the period ending 31st January 2020, despite making no major signings.

Though a significant decrease from the previous period (£43.8 million), Liverpool's spending reached £30.3 million in total, ahead of Manchester City (£29 million), Manchester United (£27.6 million) and Chelsea (£26.2 million). 

Total spending exceeded last year's level by just £2.7 million, thereby reaching £263.4 million.

Curiously, Liverpool only signed Takumi Minamino and Sepp van den Berg in the period. However, a series of players including Virgil van Dijk and James Milner agreed to contract extensions, in addition to manager Jurgen Klopp.

The FA said in a statement payments in its figures may have been made "in respect of transactions that were entered into prior" the beginning of the period. 

Tottenham, meanwhile, spent just £12.5 million while Arsenal spent £13.6 million. That was less than both Everton (£16.9 million) and Leicester (£15.4 million).

In the Championship, spending actually fell from £50.5 million to £49.3 million. Like Liverpool, Stoke topped the list for the second year in a row with spending of £5.7 million, more than three Premier League clubs, though it was a decrease from last year's figure of £7.2 million. 

To call it a non-event would be too much, and it is definitely too early to make such a statement.
But the summer transfer window of 2020 is looking like it will become a flat experience. Like a boring 0-0 draw where neither team is really pushing for a goal.

"You have weak sellers - and buyers who really can't spend too much. The environment, obviously, is very volatile at the moment, so we don't know where this will end, or how finances will look when the window opens, but looking forward, now the selling clubs - it could be smaller teams in Spain or Italy, and also smaller teams in other big leagues - they look vulnerable.

"Their cashflows are dependent on the big clubs buying their biggest talents. But that scenario is not going to happen because the big clubs are also in limbo," Fausto Zanetton, founder and CEO of Tifosy Capital and Advisory, tells offthepitch.com.

He emphasizes that some of the big clubs also have a lot of debt.

"They can't just go out and spend big after months without revenues and limited future cashflow visibility. So, my feeling is that most clubs are in a state of mind where they are getting used to the idea that the next transfer window will be very quiet. Not much activity.

"And looking forward to the winter transfer window, I also don't see a lot of deals there either. The financial impact is very hard on most clubs and they won't be ready to spend big in just nine months. And if you fare a little bit better financially, you will try to hold on to their best talents and not sell them at a discount now," Zanetton says.

Transfer-money flowing from the big leagues to smaller leagues

If you take a look at the last five summer transfer windows, activity has been growing year after year. 

In 2015/16, clubs from the five biggest leagues in Europe spent €3.2 billion on players, while that spending was no less than €5.5 billion last summer, according to data from Transfermarkt. 

Obviously money did also come in – but in the transfer window last summer clubs spent €1.4 billion more than they sold.

In other words: Last summer, clubs from the big five leagues purchased players from smaller leagues for a total of €1.4 billion. Therefore, smaller leagues should prepare for a significant decrease in the €1.4 billion they received in last summer's transfer window.

In addition, it is remarkable how much money Premier League clubs spent on players compared to their rivals from other leagues.

Significantly higher

Looking at the net-spending, the top tier of English football have in total splashed out no less than €4 billion since the summer of 2015/16.

That level of outflow is significantly higher than number two on the list which was the Serie A clubs who spend €900 million more than they received. The numbers also underline the ability to develop raw talent in French football and capitalise on that work. Ligue 1 clubs, in comparison, have made a profit of €550 million the last five years.

A perspective on these figures could be that Premier League clubs could improve their finances significantly if they took a more prudent approach in the transfer market this summer. Revenue might fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, but simply by spending less in the transfer market this summer a lot of money could be saved.

Fausto Zanetton from Tifosy also points out that there might be a PR angle to the coming transfer window.

"If thousands of people have perhaps died in your local area and people have risked their lives at the hospitals, do you then as a club want to be seen spending €50 million on a new player and paying him €300,000 a week?

"The local authority probably needs resources, people are on furlough, and many have simply been fired and are struggling. Such an environment doesn't encourage you to spend big. So, clubs will be prudent." says Zanetton.

Listed companies making big profits on player sales

He adds, though, that certainly a few clubs might see this transfer window as an opportunity to do business they would not be able to do under normal circumstances.

"I reckon there could be a few clubs, with healthier balance sheets or strong financial backing from their owners, who would do some deals because they can get a good deal from a distressed seller or there might be more limited competition. But I expect most clubs to hesitate - not take the initiative like they normally do."

If we go to club-level and identify the big earners over the last three summer transfer windows it is noticeable that two of the world's biggest clubs – and two of the biggest spenders – FC Barcelona and Juventus, are also heavily dependent on transfer money coming in. Premier League outfit Chelsea have also sold top talents on a regulartemporary  basis the last three years.

We are not Americans, and we can't and we won't copy all they do in sports, but from some things we can learn.' I hope some stakeholders in the industry will come forward and try to make their fellow leaders realise that now is a time to change things.

Also one can't ignore the fact that three clubs in the global top five of clubs who are making the most profit on player sales are listed companies. And although it is impossible to predict exactly what will happen on the transfer market this summer, it would be fair to assume that activity will go down, and therefore Juventus, AS Roma and Borussia Dortmund should expect less profits on player sales.

That might – depending on their own spending in the market - have an impact on their profits/losses, and investors tend to react when key-earnings appears to be under pressure.

Premier League teams Leicester City and Southampton have also cashed in during the last three season – on average around €50 million each year. Those large profits in the transfer market equal the total yearly match day and commercial revenue at Leicester City while the number outgrows those two revenue-streams at Southampton.

Double whammy

Surprisingly are also LaLiga's Athletic Bilbao in the top 20 over clubs with the highest profits on player sales in the last three years. Without the large profits on player sales, profits would turn into heavy losses.

The Italian dealmaker Zanetton, with a background as an investment banker in London, is curious to see if the coronavirus crisis could lead to some structural changes in the industry. Changes that, according to the chief executive, are much needed.

"This is a unique opportunity for the industry to sit down and think about the whole business model. I guess most people involved in business can see that when you spend most of your revenue, and sometimes more than your total revenue, on 20 players, then something is wrong. Fundamentally wrong," he says.

"First you acquire the players for very large amounts, and then, as a club, you also need to pay fixed salaries on top which are multi-year and have a very low variable component. So basically you get a double whammy. The lifetime value of players is often enormous.

"On top of that, the structure you have with relegation and promotion, and that extreme pressure to spend all the time because the downside is super, super high, that is not exactly conducive to a healthy business model. So, this is a perfect time to sit around the table and say, 'Look guys, this business, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

"We are not Americans, and we can't and we won't copy all they do in sports, but from some things we can learn.' I hope some stakeholders in the industry will come forward and try to make their fellow leaders realise that now is a time to change things."

Do you think the leaders in football are ready to change things fundamentally?

"It depends on how sophisticated they are, and how connected to the financial markets they are. If they have insight into global business and economy, they will want a re-shape of the current business model. And I truly think this could be something like a 'Bosman-type moment' for the industry. Where people will change things. They should."

Re-sold the trransfer

According to Zanetton, it is not just a matter of smaller clubs being under financial pressure that could lead to bankruptcy. The whole football ecosystem is connected, and if more and more clubs get into financial difficulties, the negative impact can be widespread and massive, and even the biggest and richest clubs will suffer.

"They are all connected. If one club doesn't pay, the receiving club can't pay what they owe to another one. And then it goes on like that. It is a vicious cycle, and it could be a very bad situation if the whole model doesn't change. So there needs to be a “circuit breaker”: a new way to finance and run the industry as a whole "

Looking at the upcoming transfer window, Zanetton expects deals to be structured differently. Basically, he says, clubs won't be able to do any deals if they don't have cash.

"To buy a player and pay the transfer money in tranches, which used to be very normal, demands more visibility. Clubs won't accept that because they don't know if they will receive the money later. Many clubs financed their receivables where they could get the cash up front, because they re-sold the transfer to a financial institution which then took the credit risk and got paid for that. But that market is having a very, very tough time now."

With regards to Championship clubs' profits on player sales, these do form a significant component of the league's financial performance as a whole.

What about the banks - are they ready to support the clubs with cash to spend in the transfer market?

"Compared to the crisis we saw back in 2008/09, the banks are not in financial difficulties and still open for business. But this is mostly an opportunity for the biggest clubs in Europe. Traditional banks won't support football clubs with a weak balance sheet. And, unfortunately, that is the case at most clubs."

We have also looked at the balance between clubs' turnover and the profit they make on player sales. In other words: How dependent are they on profits being made in the transfer market compared to the underlying revenue streams.

No less than seven Championship clubs are found in the top 20 list of European clubs comparing revenue to profit on player sales, with Brentford and Bristol City on top with a profit higher than their annual turnover.

Commenting on the coming transfer window and the consequences for Championship clubs, Christopher Winn, Programme Leader at University Campus of Football Business, says:

"With regards to Championship clubs' profits on player sales, these do form a significant component of the league's financial performance as a whole.

"Many clubs in the Championship have successful youth and academy set ups, and are accustomed to developing young talent before being able to sell on for a significant transfer fee if offers come in. Such monies are often reinvested in that talent development cycle."

Winn adds that in the current coronavirus situation, where many Championship clubs are in a huge financial struggle, some transfer money could be delayed:

"The question at hand is probably more one of are outstanding transfer receivables and payables, as listed in these clubs' accounts, going to be received/paid on time - as clubs will have likely budgeted accordingly.”

A number of agents with clients in the Premier League will demand £300 million in outstanding payments from the respective clubs after payments have been withheld for the last month, according to the Daily Mail.

Several clubs have put off agent payments due over the past month as the coronavirus situation has forced them to devise cost-cutting measures.

Despite many agents being willing to waive fees owed to them by clubs in the lower leagues, they will not be as lenient with the much wealthier Premier League clubs.

According to the newspaper, there is no force majeure clause in the standard contract between players, clubs and agents, which would allow for exceptions in extraordinary circumstances.

Clubs in the Premier League paid a record £260.6 million in agent fees between February 2018 and January 2019, more than half the global amount spent on agents over the period.

Since then, the figure is expected to have risen by almost £50 million to more than £300 million. 

Mino Raiola, the controversial football agent with clients such as Paul Pogba and Erling Haaland, has hit out at FIFA, appearing to suggest he and his fellow agents would create a transfer system free from the governing body's influence.

His comments come as FIFA is planning to implement a series of changes to how agents are allowed to work, which includes a cap on transfer-fee commissions, a licensing system, and a ban on agents representing multiple parties in a deal.

"[FIFA] is like a communist dictator who tells people what they have to do at all times," Raiola said, according to Goal. 

"We are looking for a more transparent world of work and if FIFA wants to, perfect. It has to clear the table, declare our rights and we would start talking. FIFA just says they decide. It's ridiculous."

New transfer system

Raiola, also the president of the Football Agents Forum (FAF), appeared ready to break free from all ties to FIFA and create an entirely new system.

"We are not going to argue with FIFA anymore. We will only do so when they withdraw their proposals. In any case, we will fight to create a second system, far from that of FIFA," he said.

"Football needs a second system. FIFA today wants to be everything: The government, the commercial part, the legal part... and that is impossible. We know how to regulate alone. Why do you have to take part of our money? In Europe we organise with clubs and there is no problem. Why do I have to go through FIFA if I understand with UEFA? Of course, it is a power game. That's why we said 'enough.' " 

FAF, which also includes football agents Roger Wittmann and Jonathan Barnett, has previously threatened to take legal action if FIFA fails to withdraw plans to change the agent system. 
 

The Portuguese authorities are investigating football agent Jorge Mendes in relation to a case of alleged tax fraud and money laundering, according to the Portuguese magazine Sabado.

Mendes represents some of the world's most high-profile players, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva and Ederson. 

According to the magazine, the case involves the alleged embezzlement of about €20 million in relation to the transfers of 15 players, including Radamel Falcao, Iker Casillas and James Rodriguez. 

It is unclear what role Mendes or others implicated in the investigation have allegedly played. 

The presidents of the Portuguese football clubs Porto, Benfica and Braga are also being investigated.