FA rule publicizes club payments to agents

A new regulation of the English Football Association (FA) requires Premier League clubs to publicize all information related to agent payments.

According to and FA spokesman, the goal of the rule is ‘transparency,’ and it will ‘provide an overall picture of the scale of the football agency business.’

The regulation is comparable to a rule that the Football League (FL) implemented five years ago in 2004. FL chairman Brian Mawhinney commented that over the years there has been a reduction in the payments made to agents and less agents have gone unpaid. ‘We've never been running an anti-agent campaign, we are opening up how our clubs operate for the benefit of fans,’ he said.

The difference in the FA system will be that transactions will be tracked. Under the FL system, clubs provide the information, and Lord Mayhinney believes the figures given to be accurate. The FA is not planning to control individual payments, but to ensure transparency.

Meanwhile, Hull City FC is investigating GBP 5.5 million in agent payments over the past 24 months.