since the beginning of the year, intermediaries have earned $865 million from player transfers

The International Football Federation (FIFA) has published a traditional report that records the key parameters of football player transfers in 2023. The most notable point in the document is that regarding the remunerations received by football agents. Their volume is approaching $1 billion and will probably exceed the milestone level by January. FIFA has been trying to tighten its agent policies for a long time. From October 1, the provisions of its reform, the purpose of which is to limit agency commissions, come into full force. Over the past ten years, their size has almost doubled.

The International Football Federation has released its annual International Transfer Snapshot report, which describes significant indicators of the international transfer market. The emphasis is on international transfers; transactions within one championship are not taken into account. According to FIFA estimates, in the period from June 1 to September 1, the total value of international transfers amounted to $7.36 billion, which is 47.2% more than a year ago. There has also been a sharp increase in spending on player purchases by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) clubs. We are talking primarily about teams from Saudi Arabia. With more than $870 million spent, the AFC team’s total spending exceeded $1 billion during the reporting period. This is the first time in history that a confederation other than the European Union of Football Associations (UEFA) has accounted for more than 10% of the spending bill ( for AFC it was 14%).

However, the most remarkable part of the FIFA report concerns not the actual increase in the cost of player transfers, but the income that players’ and clubs’ agents make from the deals. FIFA estimates that agent commissions for the summer transfer window alone amounted to $696.6 million, “representing almost 10% of all transfer costs.” Since the beginning of the year, agency fees have already reached $865 million, and with almost four months remaining before its completion, they may well surpass the $1 billion mark. FIFA noted that agent commissions have never risen to this level in history, and the record set last year, it was exceeded by 38.8%. Since the figures provided by FIFA do not take into account domestic transfers, it is safe to say that the total amount of funds received by agents has in fact long since passed the $1 billion mark for the year.

The Federation has long been concerned with the activities of agents, whose natural interest is to sell players as often as possible. It is possible that the record figures for 2023 will remain out of reach for a long time. From October 1, new rules regulating the amount of agency commissions will come into full force. Previously they were not limited in any way. Now, if a football player’s annual salary does not exceed $200 thousand, then the annual agent’s fee cannot be more than 5% of this amount. If the player’s income is above $200 thousand, then the commission size is reduced to 3%. The new regulations also limit the practice of double or even triple representation (cases where one agent represented both contracting clubs and the footballer himself). An exception is made only for a team purchasing a football player. In this case, one agent can represent both the purchasing club and the player. The agent’s fee in such a situation cannot exceed 10% of the player’s income, if he does not exceed $200 thousand a year, and 6% – with an income of more than $200 thousand. And the agents representing the selling club find themselves in the most advantageous position. They can receive up to 10% of the player’s transfer value.

An equally interesting point of the reform is the requirement to ensure transparency of transactions. So, settlements must go through the FIFA clearing house. Its work is designed to make the transfer market more transparent, as well as to guarantee that clubs receive the payments due to them for the education of football players (usually small clubs act as “educators”). According to the rules, they must receive 5% when transferring a football player (the money is received by all teams for which he played from 12 to 23 years old, and their shares depend on the period that the player spent with them).

Let us add that FIFA’s innovation caused sharp dissatisfaction among agents. The Association of Professional Football Agents (PROFAA), based in Zurich, even appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to stop the reform. The main argument was that the new rules would destroy the agency market, forcing small and medium-sized players to leave it and handing it over to the “whales.” CAS, however, rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments.

Alexander Petrov