Table of contents
The FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR) set out who may provide football agent services, how agents work with clients and which obligations they must meet. This article explains the framework and the temporary suspension of certain provisions.
Introduction
Football agents play a growing role in the transfer system: the FIFA Football Agents Report 2025 records 10,525 licensed agents as of 4 December 2025 and USD 1.37 billion in club-agent service fees for international transfers in men’s professional football between 1 January and 1 December 2025.
The FIFA Council adopted the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR) on 16 December 2022, following consultation with players, clubs, leagues, member associations, confederations and agent representatives. The framework aims to strengthen professional and ethical standards, protect clients, reduce conflicts of interest and improve transparency and contractual stability in the transfer system.
The January 2025 edition, approved on 10 December 2024, took effect on 1 January 2025 and applies subject to the temporary suspension of certain provisions.
Football agent services
A football agent is a natural person licensed by FIFA to perform football agent services with the purpose of concluding a transaction on behalf of a client.
Clients may be players, coaches, clubs, member associations or single-entity leagues; a person or entity outside these categories is not considered a client under the regulations.
Football agent services concern a transaction involving the employment, registration, deregistration or transfer of a player; the employment of a coach; or the creation, amendment or termination of a player’s or coach’s employment terms. Negotiations and communications connected to these arrangements form part of those services.
Other services, such as legal advice, financial planning, scouting, consultancy, image rights management and the negotiation of commercial agreements, do not relate directly to concluding a transaction.
A representation agreement establishes the legal relationship between a football agent and a client, whose rights and responsibilities are governed by the FFAR.
From application to licensed activity
Individuals who meet the eligibility requirements can apply through the FIFA agent platform to sit the FIFA football agent exam, with a licence issued to candidates who pass the exam and pay the licence fee.
Alternatively, individuals covered by a national licensing system recognised by FIFA can obtain their licence through the National Law Path.
Once licensed, a football agent works with clients under representation agreements and must continue to meet the conditions for holding a licence, including continued eligibility, completion of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements and payment of the annual licence fee.
How FIFA and member associations share responsibility
FIFA administers the licensing system and regulates representation agreements with an international dimension, including services connected to an international player transfer or a coach moving between member associations. An agreement covering several transactions also has an international dimension if at least one of those transactions is international.
Member associations implement national football agent regulations for agreements and transactions without an international dimension, such as a purely domestic transfer or employment-contract negotiation. The applicable rules are those of the member association where the client is registered or domiciled. The national football agent regulations directory provides access to published national rules; the relevant association can confirm their current version and local implementation.
Applicants, football agents, clients and member associations cooperate with FIFA on eligibility checks, while the international or domestic nature of a matter determines the applicable framework, subject to the suspension measures below.
Current status of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations
Following the preliminary injunction granted by the Landgericht Dortmund, FIFA announced a worldwide temporary suspension of specified FFAR provisions through Circular 1873 of 30 December 2023.
The affected provisions are:
- Service fee caps and specified payment rules, including the client pays principle, timing and payment of service fees and payments through the FIFA Clearing House: Article 14 paragraphs 2, 6–8 and 10–13 and Article 15 paragraphs 1–4.
- Multiple representation and dual representation: Article 12 paragraphs 8–10.
- Reporting obligations: Article 16 paragraphs 2(h), 2(j), 2(k) and 4.
- Disclosure and publication: Article 19.
- Submission and jurisdiction provisions: Article 4 paragraph 2, Article 16 paragraph 2(b), Article 3 paragraphs 2(c) and 2(d), and Articles 20 and 21.
The suspension of Article 20 means that the Agents Chamber does not currently hear disputes under that provision.
On 16 July 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its judgment concerning the FFAR. FIFA welcomed the judgment and announced further analysis of its practical implications and consultation with the relevant stakeholders. The worldwide temporary suspension of certain FFAR provisions has not yet been lifted.
All provisions that were not temporarily suspended remain in force, including the licensing system, eligibility requirements, examination process, licence maintenance obligations, representation agreement requirements, duties of football agents and restrictions on unlicensed activity.
Parties may incorporate the suspended provisions into their representation agreements, although FIFA does not currently enforce them. FIFA strongly encourages parties to familiarise themselves with and adopt these provisions when negotiating an agreement, as they provide a framework to structure and protect contractual relationships within the football transfer system.