The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has sided with FIFA in its legal battle over its new agent regulations and has rejected “in its entirety” all the claims of the Association of Professional Soccer Agents (PROFAA). The new FIFA regulations came into force last January to establish a fairer and more transparent football transfer system, which includes a mandatory license from the governing body for agents, the prohibition of multiple representation to avoid conflicts of interest and the introduction of a cap on their fees. Now, after a transition period until October 1, only licensed agents will be allowed to work in the soccer industry.
“FIFA welcomes today’s decision of the CAS on Monday, which fully confirms the legality, validity and proportionality of the FIFA Football Agents Regulations”, declared FIFA, which described this regulation as “a key advance” in the reform of its transfer system and “within its strategic objective to modernize the regulatory framework of soccer.”
The CAS panel said in several provisional rulings that the FFRA did not violate the laws of Switzerland, France and Italy and the US Major League Soccer collective agreement. “The award represents the first in-depth legal assessment of the legality of the FFAR by an independent panel of renowned experts and confirms FIFA’s position that the FFAR is a reasonable and proportionate regulatory measure that helps to resolve systemic failures in the player transfer system,” added the body chaired by Gianni Infantino. However, the new regulation on agents is also facing lawsuits at the national level with cases, for example, in Germany, referred to the European Court of Justice for a ruling.