FIFA Football Agent Regulations explained (2026)

What the regulations are

The FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR) replaced the 2015 rules on working with intermediaries. FIFA approved them in December 2022; the licensing rules took effect on 9 January 2023 and the rest on 1 October 2023 [1][2]. They govern agent services in international transfers; many national associations have their own agent rules for domestic transfers as well.

Who needs a licence, and how to get one

Anyone who provides football agent services to a player, a coach or a club must hold a FIFA licence. The licence is personal: it belongs to a natural person, not to a company, and it cannot be transferred [1].

• Apply on the FIFA Agent Platform ↗ and pass FIFA's online exam [3].
• Pay the yearly licence fee: USD 600 for a first licence, USD 300 for each renewal since 1 October 2024, due by 30 September [1].
• Earn at least 20 credits of continuing professional development (CPD) each year, from 1 October to 30 September, passing each assessment with 80% or more [1].

Miss the education or the fee and the licence is provisionally suspended at once; an agent who does not complete the education within 60 days loses the licence [1]. A client may not engage an unlicensed person, and FIFA says that both the client and the agent may be sanctioned [1].

What is in force

• The licence and the yearly CPD requirement [1].
• Minors: an agent may approach a minor, or the minor's guardian, no earlier than six months before the age at which the minor may sign a first professional contract, only with the guardian's prior written consent, and only after completing FIFA's CPD course on minors [2].
• Representation agreements with a player or a coach last at most two years, and a clause that renews the agreement by itself is void [2].
• The rule that an agent may not approach a client under an exclusive agreement with another agent, except in its last two months [2], still stands in FIFA's text, but see the July 2026 judgment below.

What is suspended

After a German court in Dortmund granted an injunction, FIFA suspended a large part of the regulations worldwide with Circular 1873 of 30 December 2023, "until the European Court of Justice renders a final decision in the pending procedures concerning the FFAR" [4]. Suspended are, among others:

• the cap on agent service fees;
• the rules on who pays the agent and when, including payment through the FIFA Clearing House;
• the ban on one agent representing several parties in the same transfer;
• parts of the reporting and disclosure duties, and the rules that bind agents and clients to FIFA's own procedures.

Until FIFA says otherwise, national rules and the written agreement between the parties decide these points. In England, for example, the FA's current guidance sets no fee cap and allows dual representation with written consent from everyone involved [5].

The EU Court of Justice ruling of July 2026

On 16 July 2026 the Court of Justice of the European Union answered questions from the Regional Court of Mainz in case C-209/23, brought by the German agency RRC Sports [6]. In short:

• The rule that stops agents approaching a client under an exclusive agreement outside its last two months "appears, in any event, to be incompatible with the prohibition on cartels".
• The limits on multiple representation and some licence conditions are obstacles to the free movement of services; whether they are justified is for the national court to decide.
• FIFA may be regarded as holding a dominant position in agent services for international transfers.
• Under the GDPR, FIFA may not publish sanctions against agents and their clients, or detailed data on every transaction involving an agent.

The Court did not decide the case; the Mainz court now applies the ruling. FIFA reads it as confirming that the licence, the fee cap, the ban on multiple representation and the client-pays rule can be justified, and said it would invite agents' representatives to talks [7]. FIFA's new transfer system starts on 1 January 2027 [7]. No FIFA circular lifting the 2023 suspension had been published when this guide was updated.

A related judgment of 9 July 2026, case C-428/23 (ROGON), found that national agent rules, here those of the German FA, can fall within the public-interest exception if they are appropriate, necessary and proportionate [8].

What it means for clubs

• Work only with an agent whose licence you have checked in FIFA's directory, and check national registration where it exists. See how to find and check a licensed agent.
• Agree the fee and who pays it in writing: there is no FIFA cap to fall back on while the suspension lasts.
• Ask in writing whom else the agent acts for in the same transfer.
• Follow the minors rules strictly; national rules are often stricter than FIFA's minimum.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. The rules are moving; check FIFA's latest circulars and your national association before a transfer.