Agents look to improve image
The country’s top football agents have met Premier League officials to form a self-regulatory group.
Led by Jon Smith, of First Artist plc, the group met with Premier League chairman Dave Richards and will present their case to the European Professional League (EPL) in March.
Their aim is to form a group with a code of conduct for agents by the start of next season – and to shake off the image of being “parasites” of football.
Smith said: “With the advent of the EPL we will have this meeting – with FIFA, UEFA and governing bodies – to form a unit directly answerable and transparent.
“Being publicly accountable will, for once and for all, back respected senior agents. The reputation has been formed because the term ‘agent’ is used in a derogatory way. That we are seen as the parasites of football.
“But we have raised over £12m (€17.1m) in sponsorship for the game and money in football also goes to directors’ salaries at clubs.
“We are dealing in human flesh and that is an emotive subject, and also clubs want to keep transfer stories quiet – this silence is misinterpreted as subversive.
“We are all getting a little bit tired of getting walloped every time people want to have a pop at agents. Agents are not the only parties involved in transfers - many are instigated and concluded by clubs.
“I have shareholders that are affected because of the inferences of comments about agents, we (First Artist) are a public company but people do not always recognise that.”
Yesterday Football League chairman Brian Mawhinney called for greater regulations on the use of agents in the game after a new report showed a sharp increase in third party transfer payments made by clubs.
The League’s second six-monthly Agents’ Fees report revealed its member clubs spent £5,024,789 (€7,173,531) over the period since June – an increase of over £3.6m (€5.1m) from the equivalent period ending last summer.
Mawhinney said the figures showed too much money is leaving the game via agents, and suggested that a closer inspection of this aspect of football finance would be an encouraging consequence of the League clubs’ transparency.
