While the football vibe is running high, the European Parliament adopted a resolution for the introduction of a European licencing system for sports agents. Sports agents act as intermediaries between sportspersons and sports clubs with a view to employing or hiring a player or an athlete. Besides finding a placement for a player, sports agents involve themselvs also with managing the assets of the sportsperson, his image rights, sponsoring and advertising.

Sports agents act in a climate of strong economic potential, evidence of which are the record-breaking transfers of players from one football team to another which has now necessitated the creation of financial regulation in football. The commercialisation of sports however, is not limited to football only, but affects other sports disciplines, the foremost of which are rugby, basketball and athletics.

The first step in the right direction is the new resolution intended to stop illegal practices involving players' agents by introducing a compulsory licence for agents. The intention is to put an end to possible opportunities of criminal activities linked to agents' activities, including human trafficking, money laundering, fraud and corruption.

Although in some sports disciplines, agents' activities are already extensively regulated by sporting bodies internationally and nationally, very few EU member states have specific laws on sports agents. Indeed, only five EU countries including France and Portugal have developed specific regulations for sports agents, which regulations nonetheless vary from one country to another.

The resolution was adopted as a result of a study recently carried out by the Commission, which shows that around 6,000 agents are active across Europe in more than 30 sports disciplines, generating a turnover running into hundreds of millions of euros in transfers of players from one team to another.

It also found that while the regulations of agents established by sports federations are aimed at controlling access to the profession and regulating its exercise, they only have limited supervisory and sanctioning powers.

This means that sports agents can act completely autonomously without any possibility for sports federations to keep a check on them.

The EU initiative will be able to control the activities of players' agents, imposing efficient restraints by setting out strict standards and examination criteria prior to accessing the profession, as well as enforcement of sanctions in order to ensure that players' agents stick to the rules once they are exercising the profession.

A Commission communication on future EU sports policy is due in November this year.

Dr Grech is an associate with Guido de Marco & Associates and heads its European law division.

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