Football agents are reportedly preparing a lawsuit against FIFA over the new 3% cap on commission fees introduced last October.
The multi-million pound lawsuit claims that agents have lost out on sizable commission fees due to the 3% cap limit, which has been currently suspended upon the opening of the January transfer window.
This follows last November’s private arbitration where numerous UK-based football agents were successful in blocking the Football Association’s (FA) plans to introduce the new regulations and will now go forward to be heard in the European Court of Justice.
With FIFA now choosing to halt further implementation of the 3% agent cap for the January transfer window, agents still believe they have been unjustly penalised by the ruling and are seeking to recover funds they have missed out on.
One agent told the Daily Mail that the new regulations are “unlawful” which has translated into a “huge loss of earnings”.
The agent said: “Applying an unlawful cap for the past year has led to many agencies inserting three per cent commission rates in their contracts with players, which translates as a huge loss of earnings.
“Some of us have also lost clients. There will be a massive lawsuit against FIFA to regain lost earnings.”
FIFA announced the introduction of the 3% cap last January and confirmed its implementation in October 2023 as agents will be capped by the figure of any of their clients contracted salary, aiming to halt the perceived growing power agents are having on the transfer market.
The new regulations also state that agents must make all their fees attached to a clients salary public and forbids any inclusion of an agent representing both a player and a club in negotiations.
As a consequence, agents have not only stated their dismay over losing significant sums of money, but have also expressed concerns of losing clients to the uncertainty of the regulations and what changes may entail.
The new rules have been halted for now as the world footballing body believes this will help maintain stability in the transfer market before an impending decision is made by the European Court of Justice.
