The Football Forum notes that in a release issued on 1 February 2022, FIFA reports of “constructive talks with agents associations from all around the world” and “robust consultation process” allegedly held with respect to FIFA’s project to take control over the agents’ activities.
“This is the pantomime of a consultation. This meeting is nothing but another endeavour to distort the reality of a process which is far away from being genuine or robust”, said Joshua Barnett, Board Member of The Football Forum.
This is demonstrated both by the irrelevance of the participation of the group of agents, who have been partnering with FIFA, for the outcome of the process and by the actual composition of these groups, whose representativeness in the “market” is questionable.
The Football Forum’s Vice-President Jonathan Barnett commented: “We told FIFA we are aware of what they are doing and invited them on many occasions to reconsider their position and start a proper consultation process, but they preferred to ignore us, since the decision on how they intend to regulate agents was taken long before their fake consultations had even started.”
FIFA’s approach reveals the real intentions behind the project: dismantle the category of agents and take contractual power away from players.
This is one of the steps (under the eyes of all) by which the power in football will be concentrated in the hands of a restricted group of people, rather than making football “truly global”.
The Football Forum will continue monitoring the next stages of FIFA’s project and is prepared to act in any competent venue to safeguard the interests of agents and players.