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English clubs top table of agent fees which remain stable despite decreased transfer spending | Football News



Agent fees remain stable despite less spending on transfers in the last two years, according to a report published by FIFA on Wednesday which showed English clubs to have the biggest outlay.

The report, which includes all international transfers in 2021, has revealed that a total £375.6m was paid to intermediaries and European clubs accounted for 95.8 per cent of that spending.

English clubs spent around £100m on agent fees in 2021 to top the table, ahead of those in Germany (£64m) and Italy (£55.6m) with those three countries plus Spain, France and Portugal accounting for 77 per cent of the world’s total.

Clubs spending on transfer fees shrank for the second year in a row, most likely in relation to Covid-19, but this decrease did not carry over to spending on intermediary service fees.

There was also a 12.9 per cent increase in intermediaries being used in women’s international transfers with 300 of 1,287 moves having at least one intermediary involved and England again topping the table with 16 transfers involving intermediaries.

FIFA is in the “final stage” of their plans to regulate agents as they strive for more transparency around the transfer system, but revealed some agents are still not invested in the consultation process.

“We want to speak to all agents,” Emilio Garcia Silvero, FIFA chief legal & compliance officer, said.

“In this last part of the process, there are some groups who prefer not to be consulted. It shouldn’t be perceived that FIFA doesn’t consult with agents. Some agents don’t want to consult with FIFA.”

FIFA is introducing a minimum cap of three per cent on the total value of a player’s contract and have highlighted examples of why they feel the need to take such action.

“There is a drop in transfer fees paid but when you expect to see a similar drop in agent fees, instead we see a slight increase,” said James Kitching, director of football regulatory at FIFA.

“There was one player moving from France to Germany and it involved an agent payment that was 111.8% fee compared to the total of the player contract. That is why we are looking at abusive and excessive practices.”

Asked if he is concerned about possible legal action from agents, Garcia Silvero pointed to two cases that have ruled in FIFA’s favour in Germany and backing from the European Parliament.

“These preliminary cases were rejected by the Courts in Germany,” he added. “We know there are a certain group of agents, who have some reservations. We respect this position. Our ideas will bring more transparency. We believe in the rule of law. We think we are doing the right thing.

“If 20 or 30 agents think we are in breach of the law, we cannot prevent them going to court. We are not worried about them. We considered reaching an agreement with the agents. They don’t want to talk. Two or three organisations are part of the process. Others prefer to be excluded.”

FIFA’s head of agents Luis Villas-Boas Pires says transparency is at the heart of what they want to achieve.

“We have several examples of agents receiving more than the players’ salary, which is what we want to prevent,” he said. “There are some interesting figures, £2m, £5m, £10m. But it is more about the relation between the fee and the salary.

“We want transparency, (to know) how much an agent is paid. But also, who is licenced. Who are the clients? What service will they provide?”

FIFA is also seeking to establish a clearing house to ensure training and solidarity payments are made.

“The market allows $500m (£380m) on agents but only about $60m (£46m) in compensation for training players all over the world. It makes us feel uncomfortable. We cannot accept this imbalance. That is one of the key things we would like to change with the agents legislation,” Garcia Silvero added.





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