In Zurich, a proposal to systematise the relationship among professional players, agents and clubs was submitted by an Egyptian member of the FIFA Congress, reports Inas Mazhar The paper was delivered to the 208 members of the FIFA Congress by Egypt's Khaled Mortagi, board member of the Ahli club and member of the FIFA Committee for Club Football, headed by UEFA chairman Michel Platini. In view of the difficulties faced by the current system with player's agents, the FIFA Congress decided in 2009 to support an in-depth reform of the players' agents system through a new approach based on the concept of intermediaries. A working group of the FIFA Committee for Club Football was created to deal with such a reform, with the involvement of club representatives and FIFA Professional Players (FIFAPro). At the FIFA Congress in 2010, the congress was provided with a detailed report about the new concept as drafted by the relevant working group. The working group includes members of the executive directors of the world's top clubs as well as members of FIFAPro and legal advisors. Mortagi said that since the last FIFA Congress, the working group had finished its work and presented the final draft to various FIFA Standing Committees, such as the FIFA Player's Status Committee, the FIFA Committee for Club Football and the FIFA Legal Committee. At the congress, Mortagi gave an overview in seven points about the most important changes apart from the new principles presented to the congress last year. The first point dealt with the application of regulations to players and clubs that engage the services of intermediaries. The provisions contained in the draft are aimed at players and clubs that engage the services of an intermediary to negotiate an employment contract between a player and a club or conclude a transfer agreement between clubs. Associations will have to draw up their own regulations which will incorporate the principles established in the draft. Clubs and players will be prohibited from engaging the services of officials (in the sense of point 10 of the Definitions section of the FIFA statutes) as intermediaries. Second was intermediaries having no link to FIFA . Players and clubs will have to apply the required level of due diligence. The third point studied the registration system of intermediaries . For the sake of transparency, in order for an intermediary to be able to operate and/or conduct business in the territory of an association, each association will be required to implement a registration system for intermediaries who wish to carry out such activities on its territory. "In this respect, players and clubs who involve intermediaries in negotiating an employment contract and/or a transfer agreement will be required to inform their respective association of the name, contact details and any other information required by the association, of such intermediaries," Mortagi explained. Fourth was the written contract between intermediaries and clubs/players . The main points of the legal relationship entered into between a player and/or club will have to be recorded in writing prior to the intermediary commencing his activities. In this regard, Mortagi informed the congress that the working group had drafted two standard representation contracts that may be used as general guidelines by players and clubs when drafting their own representation contracts. The contracts incorporate and further develop the concepts and principles contained in the draft. In particular, they contain a declaration of competence from the intermediary, a fit and proper declaration, a declaration of disclosure, as well as an arbitration clause. These suggested provisions aim at assisting clubs and players in relation to their requested diligence. Fifth was the disclosure and publication of fees paid to intermediaries . For the sake of transparency, as well as with the aim of possibly reducing the fees paid to intermediaries, players and/or clubs will be required to disclose to their respective association the full details of any and all agreed remunerations or payments of whatever nature they have made or will be made to an intermediary. In addition, associations will have to implement a publication system to make publicly available the total amount of all remunerations or payments actually made to intermediaries by their registered players and by each of their affiliated clubs. Sixth was the payment restrictions on fees paid to intermediaries . The draft stipulates that the total amount of remuneration due to an intermediary who has been engaged to act on a player's behalf shall not exceed three per cent of the player's basic gross income for the entire duration of the contract, including any signing-on fee, stipulated in the employment contract respectively negotiated. Mortagi said that on the other hand and in accordance with the same article, clubs which contract the services of an intermediary shall remunerate him by payment of a lump sum agreed in advance, which if agreed, may be made in instalments. "If the intermediary is engaged to act on a club's behalf for negotiating a transfer agreement, the total amount of remuneration due to him shall not exceed $2 million or three per cent of the eventual transfer fee paid in connection with the relevant transfer of the player, whichever is lower. "Alternatively and if the intermediary is engaged to act on a club's behalf for negotiating an employment contract, the total amount of remuneration due to him shall not exceed $2 million or three per cent of the player's eventual basic gross income for the entire duration of the contract, whichever is lower," Mortagi told the congress. He added that with regard to payment restrictions on the fees paid to intermediaries, the draft clearly states that no fees are payable to an intermediary by players and/or clubs who engage his services if the involved player is a minor. Finally, the conflict of interest . The draft stipulates that prior to engaging the services of an intermediary, players and/or clubs shall ensure that no conflicts of interest exist or are likely to exist either for the players and/or clubs or for the intermediaries. "No conflict of interest would be deemed to exist if the intermediary discloses in writing any actual or potential conflict of interest he might have with one of the other parties involved in the matter and if he obtains the express written consent of the other parties involved prior to the start of the relevant negotiations. "The regulations provide for certain requirements that must be met by players and clubs who wish to engage the services of the same intermediary within the scope of one and the same transaction." To properly assess the proposed changes, FIFA's Executive Committee will further discuss the revision of the player- agent system based on the concept of intermediaries with all relevant involved parties, and to bring it to the FIFA Congress for a formal decision in 2012. After speaking to the Congress, Mortagi told Al-Ahram Weekly that he hoped the information and overview on the work accomplished within the scope of the reform of the system "would have been of interest."
