THE NEW FA FOOTBALL AGENT REGULATIONS – IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER

Background


In an attempt to reform the regulation of football agents, the new FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR) came into partial force on 9th January 2023 and was scheduled to come into full force on 1st October 2023.


In June 2023, the FA announced that Rule K arbitration proceedings were brought by several of the largest football agencies. The proceedings concluded in September 2023 and this led to the FA delaying the proposed introduction of FIFA’s new agent regulations which were due to be fully implemented on 1st October 2023. Instead, the FA stated that the implementation of the new regulations would be the earlier of 30th November 2023 or the handing down of the tribunal’s award. 


The decision of the arbitration proceedings were published in November 2023 and the tribunal concluded that certain elements of the FFAR would be incompatible with competition law in England. In particular, the fee cap rule and the pro rata payment rule were deemed to breach the Competition Act 1998. Effectively, the decision injuncted the FA from implementing the said elements in its national agent regulations. 


Following the ruling, the UK joined Germany, France and Spain in the big four European leagues where FIFA have been unable to enforce its regulations, with ongoing legal challenges in various European markets and beyond. In particular, the FFAR have been subject to a challenge in Germany, where the Mainz Regional Court has made a referral for a preliminary ruling to the European Court of Justice, followed by the Dortmund Regional Court issuing an injunction against FIFA and the German FA, preventing them from implementing certain elements of FFAR in Germany. This injunction still remains in place and will do so until the ECJ delivers its judgement.


On 30th December 2023, the FIFA circular was issued which meant that there would be a temporary worldwide suspension of the FFAR. FIFA announced that the suspension would remain in place until the ECJ delivers its judgement. The FA had published its National Football Agent Regulations on 21st December 2023, however had to publish a further version on 30th December 2023 following FIFA’s circular, ensuring that certain provisions would be temporarily suspended in line with FIFA’s circular.


The Current Position


The FA Football Agent Regulations came into force on 1st January 2024 and superseded The FA’s Working with Intermediaries Regulations. Players, coaches and agents should be aware that from 1st January 2024, the FA’s Football Agent Regulations will apply alongside the FFAR. It is important to note that the FFAR are not suspended in full.

Provisions currently suspended:


Restrictions on Multiple representation – No restrictions on multiple representation subject to consent being obtained from all relevant parties, with the consent being written and the parties having the opportunity to seek independent legal advice. Clubs are not limited to paying 50% of the total service fee due in a dual representation agreement.


Client pays rule – Clubs can continue to make payments on behalf of a player or coach as a benefit in kind.


Agent Fee Cap – Whilst the successful legal challenge brought by various agencies means that the agent fee cap will not apply to English transactions, for the time being there will also not be any cap on agent fees relating to international deals.


FIFA Platform – There is no obligation to submit relevant documents to the FIFA agents’ platform and the rules concerning disclosure and publication are also not in force for the time being.

Provisions that remain in place:


FIFA Agent Licence – Agents must still have a FIFA agent licence and be registered as a FA registered agent in order to perform football agent services from 1st January 2024.


Agencies – Agencies can no longer perform football agent services. Whilst football agencies can enter into a representation agreement, the agreement must also specify the agent as the agent, a natural person, will be carrying out the agent services. A football agency can no longer carry out agent services.

  

Minors – Agents will have to request written permission from the guardian of the player before engagement and have FA and FIFA approval to work with minors. This cannot take place until the 1st January in the academic year the player is turning 16.


Approaching – If a player, coach or club are bound by an exclusive representation agreement with another agent, then agents are prohibited from approaching and entering into representation agreements with them except in the final two months of the said exclusive representation agreement.


Representation Agreement – Any representation agreements entered into after 16th December 2022 will be governed by the new FA Football Agent Regulations and FFAR. All representation agreements will have to comply with the new regulations which have been in force since 1st January 2024. The important points relating to representation agreements are the following:

i. Before entering into a representation agreement, all agents will be obliged to inform the player/coach in writing that they should consider taking independent legal advice in relation to the agreement and obtain written confirmation from the player/coach that they have either obtained or decided not to take independent legal advice.

 

ii. All agreements, both new and existing must be lodged through the FA portal.

 

iii. Under the new regulations, players/coaches are entitled to act independently when negotiating their employment contracts. The new regulations render any clause that limits a player or coach from negotiating and concluding an employment contract themselves as null and void.

If you require any advice in relation to the FA Football Agent Regulations and FFAR, then please contact Basit Raza at info@brsports.co.uk. We can assist in drafting, reviewing and amending any representation agreements entered into to ensure they meet the requirements of the new regulations.