Agents "running rings round FIFA" as latest transfer window record smashed
Premier League clubs continued to spend big in the summer transfer window despite the restrictions of the Profit and Sustainability regulations - with agents cashing in
Agents will bank record figures from another bumper transfer window.
And leading agent Sky Andrew insists that some player advisors are “running rings round FIFA” as he warned “hundreds of millions” are going out of the game. But Andrew, who is a legacy agent under the new licensing system having represented the likes of Sol Campbell, insists not all agents are to blame but he fears for football in the long term.
World governing body FIFA announced last December that £700m had been spent on agent fees last year on international transfers. Andrew expects that figure to rise again in 2024 after some leading agents successfully launched legal action against FIFA from bringing on new rules on capping commission and earnings.
Andrew says his own industry are partly to blame and believes only one of their own becoming a sporting director at a club would help the financial drain when money should be going to the grassroots game. The Government are set to bring in a regulator to help run the game with EFL clubs complaining that the Premier League ’s wealthy elite should be doing more for the rest of the football pyramid.
He said: “A small group of agents are running rings around FIFA because the governing body don’t know what’s really going on but can see big numbers going to agencies. That’s why they decided to bring out the 3-5 per cent commission rules, hoping that it would alleviate the problem but as expected, big agencies took FIFA to court and succeeded.”
Andrew himself has considered moving into becoming a sporting director but still insists that the best agents are worth their weight in gold on transfers. He added: “Money going out of the game is where people in positions of influence take money from deals without offering a legitimate service.
“So, it’s true to say that a substantial amount of money is going out of the game and that number is getting bigger. Some agents get paid what they are due and that is not a problem. Even agents that negotiate a bigger fee because of a genuine ‘demand and supply’ situation is also not a problem because few players are highly sought after and when they are, clubs pay over the odds.
“The problem for football is inflated transfer fees and people getting paid huge amounts of money for either no reason or because of the ‘inner business’ in football. If you add inflated transfer fees to unjustified agents’ fees, then the money going out of the game goes into the hundreds of millions.
“That money can be used in so many ways, especially in grassroots and lower leagues. It will take a brave agent to take a job in a governing body or as a sporting director and be determined to do things correctly.”
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