By Patrick Akoto
Greedy Ghanaian FIFA agents have been dealt a sucker punch with FIFA expected to cancel their role in player transaction starting April 1.
The world governing body will instead work with intermediaries who will be entitled to only 3% of player’s transfer fee.
FIFA want to clamp down on many of such quack agents who are enriching themselves at the expense of their client with the new system expected to allow football teams deal directly with each other, rather than using agents.
Many African players have been exploited by agents who enjoy the chunk of the booty from their sweat.
The FIFA Regulations signal a dramatic de-regulation of one of the most controversial and lucrative business activities in football: agency.
Ghanaian agent Christopher Forsythe has been slapped with a three-year ban for his role in a match-fixing scandal which rocked the FA last year.
He has appealed against the ban.
From the 1 April 2015 the system of licensing football agents will be abandoned and all existing football agents’ licences will cease to have effect immediately.
The Ghana Football Association will have a major say on who represent a player as the intermediary must register with the federation.
The purpose of the licensing system is to refer back to FIFA’s own justification for it, “to raise the professional and ethical standards for the occupation of players’ agent in order to protect players, who have a short career.”
The in-depth reform of the existing players’ agents system was decided back in 2009 by the 59th FIFA Congress in order to address several shortfalls that had been identified within the licensing system.
This decision was followed by a lengthy and extensive consultation process with representatives of all relevant members of the international football community, including member associations, confederations, clubs, FIFPro and professional football leagues.