On 16 December 2022, the FIFA Council approved the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR).
The FFAR will replace FIFA’s existing Regulations on Working with Intermediaries fully on October 1, 2023 and will provide the regulatory framework governing football agents and the performance of football agent services worldwide.
The new Regulations entered into force partly on January 9, 2023 in relation to Articles 1 to 10 and Articles 22 to 27, which generally relate to the processes for obtaining a Licence.
The remaining parts of the new Regulation will come into force on October 1, 2023. These remaining Articles generally relate to acting as a Football Agent and the obligations of Football Agents and Clients.
For the avoidance of doubt, the obligation of Clients to only utilise Football Agents to perform Football Agent Services in relation to a Transaction (see art. 11 of these Regulations) commences for all transactions as from October 1, 2023.
The regulation of the occupation of football agents within the context of the football transfer system is a core element of FIFA’s strategic goal of “modernising the football regulatory framework” as identified in Making Football Truly Global: The Vision 2020-2023.
In accordance with Article 3 of the FFAR, FIFA Member Associations, such as, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) must implement and enforce their National Football Agent Regulations (NFAR) by 30 September 2023 to transition from the FIFA Regulations on Working with Intermediaries to the FFAR.
National football agent regulations (NFAR):
Following the approval of the FFAR, the GFA must implement and enforce its national football agent regulations with the aim of regulating the activity of football agents under the new FIFA regulations at national level by 30 September, 2023.
The GFA’s NFAR will govern the occupation of football agents within Ghana and also apply to all representation agreements that do not have an international dimension.
In this respect, we would like to point out that FIFA will not generally issue a formal approval or confirmation of a NFAR. However, it is important to note that FIFA will examine the NFAR submitted to ensure that the mandatory provisions and required principles (cf. Articles 11 to 21 of the FFAR) have been included. The Articles must be included in all NFAR (cf. Article 3 of the FFAR) to ensure that the occupation of football agents is harmonised at global level.
FIFA may provide specific recommendations regarding the NFAR for our national regulatory framework to be compatible with the principles contained in the FFAR.
FIFA and the GFA have a statutory obligation to regulate all matters relating to the football transfer system.
The core objectives of the football transfer system are to:
a) protect the contractual stability between professional players and clubs;
b) encourage the training of young players;
c) promote a spirit of solidarity between elite and grassroots football;
d) protect minors;
e) maintain competitive balance; and
f) ensure the regularity of sporting competitions.
2. Regulation of the occupation of Football Agent ensures that the conduct of a Football Agent is consistent with both the core objectives of the football transfer system and the following objectives: a) Raising and setting minimum professional and ethical standards for the occupation of Football Agent;
b) Ensuring the quality of the service provided by Football Agents to Clients at fair and reasonable service fees that are uniformly applicable;
c) Limiting conflicts of interest to protect Clients from unethical conduct;
d) Improving financial and administrative transparency;
e) Protecting players who lack experience or information relating to the football transfer system;
f) Enhancing contractual stability between players, coaches and clubs; and
g) Preventing abusive, excessive and speculative practices.
The GFA will continue to update its members and stakeholders of all the developments in this area of the beautiful game.
Find the FIFA Football Agent Regulations in attached document:
FIFA Football Agent Regulations_EN
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