Fifa plans to publish new agent regulations in 2022 despite threat of legal action
- Published
Jorge Mendes (right), who has declared he intends to fight Fifa's plans, is the agent of Cristiano Ronaldo
Fifa intends to publish its new agent regulations early next year despite the threat of legal action from some of football's biggest agents.
Mino Raiola, Jonathan Barnett and Jorge Mendes, who represent some of football's most high-profile players, have all vowed to fight the plans.
However, Fifa is determined to bring greater transparency to transfers and cut down on excesses that, in some instances, has seen agents being paid more for negotiating a deal than players were due in wages.
Fifa has revealed that $500.8m (£377.45m) was spent on agent fees in international transfers alone in 2021, and that 95.8% of that money was paid by European clubs.
"It shouldn't be perceived that Fifa doesn't consult with agents," said Emilio Garcia Silvero, Fifa's chief legal and compliance officer. "Some agents don't want to consult with Fifa.
"At the moment, we have a market that allows $500m to be given to agents but only about $60m (£45.42m) is spent on compensation for training players all over the world.
"That 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."
Transfer fees down, agents' fees up
In its report on intermediary fees, Fifa said overall payments had increased slightly, from £497.5m in 2020, even though the money spent on actual transfer fees had reduced by 13.9%.
Fifa says 39.1% of transfers that cost $5m (£3.79m) or more have an intermediary, compared with 5.5% of deals with fees of less than $500,000 (£379,000).
In total, 17,945 international deals for male players worldwide were lodged at Fifa's transfer matching system (TMS) in 2021. Of these, 3,545 involved an intermediary.
England is the country with the greatest proportion of its international transfers involving intermediaries, at 39.1%, followed by Italy with 35.5%.
In the women's game, clubs spent £341,430 on agents' fees as part of the international transfer of players in 2021. Sixteen of those deals involved English teams, with Germany the next highest country on the list, with 14.
Proposed cap for agents' fees
AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of Mino Raiola's most high-profile clients
The key recommendation within Fifa's proposals is that payments to agents should be capped at 3% of a player's salary and 10% of the transfer fee.
Fifa says it had spoken to numerous agents about their plans, many of whom accept them.
BBC Sport understands Raiola, Barnett and Mendes have not changed their position, though, and are preparing for a court battle.
"We can't disclose exact names and clubs but there are some really striking numbers when you look at the fee compared to the salary," said James Kitching, Fifa's director of football regulatory.
"There was a player who went from France to Germany in a transfer that involved a payment to an intermediary that was 118% of the [player's] salary.
"That is why we are looking at abusive and excessive practices."