FFAR – The English Challenge
The Background
As part of FIFA’s Football Agent Regulations (FFAR), Member Associations were required to implement their own National Football Agent Regulations (NFAR) by 30 September 2023. The NFAR will govern the activities of Football Agents in each country by setting out rules governing the occupation of Football Agents within the relevant territory (i.e. covering all Representation Agreements that do not have an international dimension).
Certain sections of the NFAR are mandatory, such as the 3% cap on the service fees payable to agents, rules surrounding representation agreements, and the requirement that all agents must comply with ongoing licensing requirements. Domestic rules may be stricter than the mandatory provisions of the FFAR, but they cannot be more lenient. A confidential draft of The FA’s own NFAR is currently in its consultation phase, but a final draft is not yet publicly available.
Challenge to the FFAR in the UK
On 19 June 2023, The FA announced that a collection of football agencies (CAA Base, Wasserman, Stellar and ARETÉ) had challenged The FA’s implementation of the NFAR in England – and in particular the implementation of the 3% cap. The FA’s full statement can be read here.
Although an accelerated timetable was fixed and it was originally intended for the decision to be handed down by 30 September 2023, this has now been extended to around 30 November 2023. The case will be decided through FA Rule K arbitration, which is The FA’s own confidential dispute resolution mechanism.
Comment
If the agents are successful in their claim, The FA will not be able to enact the NFAR as they currently stand. This would leave The FA in breach of its obligations to FIFA.
It would also likely force The FA to revisit the 3% cap on the service fee, and could even cast doubt upon the requirement for agents to pass the Agent Exam. That would reduce the pressure on the hundreds candidates who took the second Agent Exam on 20 September 2023, the last available sitting before the January 2024 transfer window.
On the other hand, if the 3% cap is upheld, there will have to be a dramatic shift in the way agents do business. The wholesale collapse of the industry predicted by some is unlikely – but agents will certainly need to restructure their current approach. Similarly, if the Agent Exam continues to be a mandatory requirement, the barrier to entering the industry will remain high. If you require any assistance with passing the Agent Exam, please visit www.theagentexam.com for expert guidance and tuition.
Whilst it is not clear how the UK challenge will fare, it is clear that the implementation of the FFAR in the UK – and many other jurisdictions – is unlikely to be smooth.
