Sports / Soccer |
FIFA planning tougher controls on player agents(Reuters)Updated: 2007-06-01 10:05 ZURICH, May 31 - FIFA are planning to impose tougher controls on licensed players' agents from next January following recommendations outlined to the annual Congress on Thursday. Jeu Sprengers, reporting on a task force set up two years ago to examine various aspects of the game, told delegates that FIFA wanted to define the role of agents more clearly, restrict the activities of unlicensed agents and limit all agents fees for any deals to three per cent. FIFA currently issues licenses to agents which last indefinitely, but Sprengers said that in future licenses would only be issued for a limited period, with agents having to re-apply after a number of years which have not yet been finalised. "We will also do more to protect under-age players and the role that agents play in their transfers," Sprengers said. The task force entitled "For the Good of the Game" has also examined the international match calendar and recommended that international double-header dates should now be played on Saturdays and Tuesdays instead of Saturdays and Wednesdays. The recommendations are to be finalised by September and should be approved by the executive committee at their meeting in Durban, South Africa in November with a view to their implementation on January 1 next year. FIFA president Sepp Blatter told a news conference after the Congress that he welcomed the report, saying: "It is not good when agents take so much money out of football, or are able to take money from both clubs when negotiating a deal. "A players's agent should be paid by the player -- but taking over 10 per cent from a deal is immoral in my opinion." Other recommendations include the greater use of an early warning system by football authorities to detect irregular betting patterns on matches. Sprengers said: "The EWS, or early warning system was used at all 64 matches at the World Cup in Germany last year, and will be used in all qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup as we will be making the system available to all member associations."
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