FIFA wins legal battle over new football agent regulations

CAS dismissed the claims (89 pages / 864KB PDF) of the Professional Football Agents Association (PROFAA) “in their entirety” during arbitration proceedings with world football’s governing body, FIFA.

PROFAA had argued that various provisions of the new FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR), including a service fee cap and the principle that only licensed football agents can provide football agent services, breached Swiss competition law.

The CAS decision confirmed FIFA’s authority to regulate the activity of football agents in the transfer system, as well as the validity of the FFAR.

Sports law expert Julian Diaz-Rainey of Pinsent Masons said: “FIFA had deregulated agents in 2015, and its aim when introducing the FFAR was to promote stability and high standards of integrity in the transfer market by re-regulating agents.”

“Not only has the decision of CAS demonstrated that FIFA has the authority to regulate football agents, but that the provisions of the FFAR are reasonable and proportionate way of FIFA achieving its objectives,” he added.

FIFA introduced the new rules, which require agents to pass an exam to continue operating after 1 October 2023, earlier this year. The FFAR provisions will also prohibit so-called ‘multiple representation’ – when an agent represents both a player and the club preparing to buy them.

Football’s governing body said the award confirmed its position that the FFAR are a reasonable and proportionate regulatory measure that help to resolve systemic failures in the player transfer system.

The CAS ruling comes after the European Football Agents Association (EFAA) lost a case against FIFA in the Netherlands Central Court earlier this year. The EFAA had argued that the FFAR were unlawful because FIFA has no authority to regulate their industry.