In June 2016, EFAA submitted a concrete Proposal to the European Commission for the establishment of a joint problem-solving consultation forum aimed at regulating the accreditation of football agents in the EU. We related the aims of EFAA to the gatekeeping role of football agents in EU employment law. We also assessed the risks that an unregulated football agency profession creates for the EU Internal Market and social imperatives. We believe that the European Commission has an obligation to support the promotion of sports good governance and best practices in the EU. We have proposed effective measures to facilitate a consultation forum comprised of the important professional football stakeholders.

The main objective of the consultation forum will be to evaluate responses from national-level roundtable workshops – to be facilitated by EFAA and the stakeholders – on the best practices and governance measures for agent regulation. The ultimate aim, after the consultation process, is to entrench the mutually approved standards through a quality certificate that is endorsed by national federations. The quality certificate criteria and implementation measures will be facilitated by international and national governing bodies, together with European Commission coordination.

EFAA’s Proposal addresses the regulatory gaps created by the FIFA Regulations on Working with Intermediaries (2015), which removed FIFA’s strict regulatory oversight on agent accreditation and quality standards. The Proposal is innovative in bringing together the major stakeholders and suggesting practical measures for the involvement of the European Commission as a key facilitating partner for roundtable discussions and joint problem-solving.

We await the response from the European Commission in July 2016, whereupon we will update our members on the next phases of the consultation process.