javier pérez villa

Today I would like to make my point about the new situation that former “FIFA agents”, known now as intermediaries, have to face in our country once the new FIFA regulations on this group came into force last April.

As the old saying goes, “mucho ruido y pocas nueces”, this is the impression the new regulation has made to intermediaries. Apparently, there is nothing new under the sun, and the few changes introduced seem quite unsubstantial.

I do not intend to analyze the contents of these new rules, since it has been analyzed in depth in many forums.  Nonetheless, I would like to comment about the purpose of such regulation, because intermediaries seem to be an inconvenient guild for FIFA and extensively for the different confederations and national federations around the world.

In my honest opinion, FIFA’s aim with the release of these rules is to silence those who claimed the regulation of these professionals, given the conflicts arisen around them in the past. The outcome is clearly weak, and I personally think that the current regulation will barely put an end to the problems that theoretically intend to stop, because currently intermediaries still lack the necessary regulation in Spanish law with the exceptions of internal federative regulations.

As in every professional group, there are good professionals, not as good and even bad ones, and in the case of intermediaries, the whole group is paying now the abuses of a small part. People, in general, think of agents or intermediaries as wealthy people surrounded by luxuries, expensive cars and power. So far from the truth though. Being an intermediary implies hard work, spending long hours in the terraces and locker rooms, accompanying the players’ families and, on top of that, travel expenses, agreements, negotiations and investments that are not always recovered. Agents’ work is essential for this sport to keep on working.

Agents are those inconvenient guests present in the football universe who are only requested to pay the fees to the football associations. Even FIFA, instead of taking them under its wing, has left them in no man’s land, although in this respect, we could say that slight changes have been made.

As far as I am concerned, this new regulation on the relations with intermediaries does not deal with the problems these agents have to face. Nothing has changed in the end, but I hope for my sake I am wrong.

 Javier Pérez Villa.