EXCLUSIVE: FIFA’s new cap on agent fees WON’T be implemented in England after successful legal challenge by representatives in major victory

English football agents have scored a major victory over FIFA after joining forces to oppose new rules that would limit the commission they earn.

Mailsport understands that the alliance – including agents from CAA Base, Stellar and Wasserman – have won their legal challenge against world football’s governing body, based on a similar ruling in favor of intermediaries in Germany.

Earlier this year, a court in Dortmund ruled that any agency from Germany is not obliged to follow FIFA’s new laws on transfer matters. FIFA wants agents to be licensed, cap the commission they earn on transfer fees and salaries, ban multiple representation and put money into a central banking system through a Paris-based financial clearinghouse.

And English officers are today celebrating the news that FIFA’s rules will not be implemented in this country either. Jonathan Barnett, of CAA Stellar, was among those leading the legal challenge.

Following the ruling, a statement from the European Football Agents Association read: ‘Today we heard the results of the English football agents case in the FA Rule K arbitration proceedings.

Well-known agent Jonathan Barnett was among those who led the successful legal challenge

“We are pleased to hear that the court has sided with the officers and blocked the implementation of the FFAR. As our English friends so aptly put it, these rules were an attempt to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut – a far reach and overreach, without any legitimate reason.

‘With the largest market now free from FFAR governance, we see four of the Big Five free from the FIFA-imposed cap, with only Italy’s status to be determined pending the new set of federation rules. ‘

They continued: ‘We are celebrating with our English friends and are pleased to have helped with this monumental cause. We will continue to support all countries in their fight against FFAR and for a fairer, more transparent and more uniform regulatory system that truly represents agents worldwide.”

At the start of the legal offer, an estate agent said Mailsport: ‘There has been no consultation with us. It’s not one size fits all. The changes have not been thought through, both on a practical and financial level. Smaller agencies don’t make as much money as you might think, and these caps will have a huge impact.

‘Okay, perhaps the commission for some of the bigger transfers needed to be addressed, but applying the same caps across all competitions is dangerous. It threatens to put many good agencies that look after younger and lower league players out of business.

‘It feels like FIFA has gone for an easy PR win by going after agents. That ignores the work we do in looking after players and facilitating transfers. Few players ever complain about the fees they pay.”

Slides from a presentation by the Association of Football Agents at a meeting in February gave a case study example of a £30 million transfer of a player between Tottenham and Manchester United, who earned a salary of £5 million on a five-year contract. They calculated that the new caps would reduce their commission from £2.75 million to £1.5 million.

The FIFA Council approved rules for football agents in Qatar in December, describing them as ‘a milestone towards the creation of a fairer and more transparent football transfer system’.

But the European Football Agents Association said: ‘These regulations will have serious consequences for the health of football and the careers of thousands of small and medium-sized agents worldwide. We will do everything we can to protect our profession and block the implementation.

FIFA wanted to limit the amount agents could earn from deals (Photo: Declan Rice after his £105m transfer to Arsenal from West Ham)

“We cannot stand idly by while one agency tries to dismantle our entire profession. We have therefore initiated legal action, with the intention of ultimately having a European Court block these regulations throughout the EU.’

Sports lawyer Chris Farnell, of IPS Law, said earlier this year: ‘If you look at current market prices, this is like a top industry executive coming into a factory and telling the workers I know you’re earning £1,000 a week , but now it is. be €500. And officers have every right to challenge that, as any employee would.

‘Arbitration proceedings are ongoing, but it may be that at this late stage going to court is the most effective way to get FIFA’s attention.

‘Before FIFA said ‘we don’t want to regulate’, now they say ‘we want to regulate’, but it is at a high level with a banking system and monetary control. That violates competitive labor laws.”