Letter of claim to FIFA from representatives of Argentine players

They are a group of renowned representatives of Argentine and South American soccer players. For years, their names have appeared in the media as the agents of the most famous players today. And the new regulations proposed by FIFA for said activity made them get together and write an open letter in repudiation of those measures and the one that olé had access.

Those who integrate this group and signed this letter are: Daniel Bolotnicof, Marcelo Simonian, Gustavo Goñi, Claudio Curti, Martin Guastadisegno, Pablo Sabbag, Hernan Berman, Gustavo Lescovich, Adrian Ruocco, Carlos Granero, Augustin Gamarnik, Pablo Del Rio, Daniel Gonzalez , Jorge Chijane, Alexis Papasan, Mariano Estevez, Diego Merino, Juan Manuel Arandilla, Gerardo Arias, Nicolas Lucio, Paulo Cloria, Ivan Hernandez, among others.

These new FIFA rules are what the agents are questioning:

First change: limit representation contracts to a maximum term of two years with a prohibition on automatic renewal. This means that once the term expires, the relationship must be renegotiated from scratch.

The second: the prohibition of exclusivity granted to an agent by which the player could act freely with more than one agent at the same time.

The third modification: that the players will be able to sign a contract with the football club without the need for advice from agents, which until now was questioned.

The fourth: the prohibition of signing a representation contract with a minor under 18 years of age, even if it was signed by their legal representatives, their parents.

The fifth: the prohibition of charging any commission to minors for whatever reason.

The sixth: that the clubs will pay the commissions through FIFA, setting the dates, terms and conditions. FIFA becomes the largest bank in the world with the management of third-party money.

The seventh: they set limits to the commissions and prohibitions on who can collect them and who cannot.

Finally, it is determined that FIFA, through its courts, are the only competent courts with original international jurisdiction to resolve conflicts between agents and soccer clubs.

“We, the undersigned, are South American Soccer Agents who have been working in this profession since 1985, some of them, others for decades, whose objective has always been to defend and help soccer players grow and develop their careers, in sports, in economically and mentally, for which we have put our work, our money and we maintained contacts with clubs at all levels of the game and in all countries of the world.

We have decided to unite and take the initiative to write this letter to take a position and try to clarify the facts that are discussed below.

We have recently learned that an entity called the Union of Soccer Agents and Intermediaries of America (UAIFA) and an association of soccer agents in Argentina called the Chamber of Soccer Intermediaries and Agents in Argentina (CIAFA) participated in a process carried out by FIFA to support the introduction of the new FIFA agent regulations I assume a role of representatives of the Argentine, Paraguayan, Peruvian and Uruguayan agents. We also note that the aforementioned associations fully supported the new Agent Regulations issued by FIFA, stating that said regulation implied “an evident improvement in the rights of agents”.

Regarding the above. We want to emphasize that we do not have the pleasure of knowing most of the members belonging to CIAFA and UAIFA and among those we do know, several have strong personal economic interests with soccer clubs, which is why we do not feel represented by them in any way. , we have not given authorization and do not reflect the opinion of the majority of agents. Therefore, we maintain that any position or opinion expressed by these associations does not reflect our will or agreement, as we must see that we are a significant part, due to the number and seniority, of the agent category in our countries.

As a consequence, we emphasize that what FIFA has agreed with these two associations cannot be attributed to our will. No, those agreements should simply be considered as agreements of different individual agents who have been in contact with FIFA. We have never been.

However, we also respectfully wish to express some surprise in relation to the fact that FIFA demonstrates in its intention to regulate the activity of football agents a marked interest contrary to our activity by not taking into account or knowing what the task is like, the development, importance and investment made by an agent in South America for years, like us.

In view of the foregoing, we emphatically reject the support provided by these associations to FIFA and likewise express our strong disagreement that the new FIFA agent regulations can represent a step forward for any agent, player or club. On the contrary, we are convinced that the new rules are a major threat to agents and players and will cause many professional agents to cease their activities and will put those who continue to operate in a position where they will be prevented from helping the players. players and/or clubs as needed.

In this sense, we have taken note of all the statements and efforts made or announced and we will act accordingly in defense of our free profession.”