A sports agent is a manager who, on the basis of a contract with an athlete , is involved in representing his interests in relations with various contractors (for example, sports clubs and companies ) [1] .
It operates within the framework of the rules determined by the sports federations of those sports in which the athlete acts whose interests he represents. As a rule, agents are used as intermediaries in concluding contracts for their clients, while receiving a percentage of transactions , which is their main income.
The main activities of the agent:
- registration of the athlete’s relationship with the employer,
- search for the most profitable contracts with sponsors and advertisers,
- settlement of financial and legal issues,
- Athlete Insurance [1] .
In some large sports companies, such as: IMG , Creative Artists Agency and Octagon , agents deal with all aspects of the client’s finances , from investments to filing tax returns . Due to the length and complexity of sports contracts, many agents are professional lawyers and have experience in sports law . Due to the specifics of their activities, agents must be well versed in financial matters, risk assessment, as well as in sports, and have high negotiation skills. Moreover, in those cases when the agent represents the interests of several athletes, the skill of working in multitasking mode is important at the same time [2] .
Sports agents can operate both as independent legal entities and on behalf of sports companies . The number of clients with which one agent can work is not limited by any legal acts and is regulated by the market [3] .
Football Agents
Until the early 1990s, most football players did not use the services of agents, preferring to conduct business on their own or through their relatives. However, the players gradually began to notice that the level of wages for those players who use the services of agents is higher than for those who solve issues of transactions with clubs on their own [4] . Initially, the activities of football agents were to be regulated by FIFA , for this purpose the organization introduced a licensing process for agents, the license cost 200,000 Swiss francs , and was an extremely long-term investment in terms of profit. In response to these actions by FIFA, shadow agents began to appear on the market, conducting their business using illegal schemes and crime [5] . In 2001, FIFA decided to abandon self-licensing of agents, transferring these functions to national football associations, with the right to independently determine the cost of a license, licenses fell sharply (the cost of an agent license in the Russian Federation in 2008 was equivalent to $ 2,000) [5] . By 2002, according to FIFA, 5187 licensed football agents around the world were already operating on the market. Since 2013, FIFA has forbidden agents and specially created firms (third parties) to buy back the rights (shares of rights) to football players, so the economic rights to players should belong exclusively to football clubs, which ultimately should lead all football leagues in the world to uniform rules market functioning [6] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Profession - sports agent
- ↑ Job Profiles.org Archived January 9, 2010. - description of roles of sports agent and some educational programs to prepare for the field
- ↑ An Industry Of Conglomerates Sports Agent Blog, July 16, 2007
- ↑ “The Big Interview: Neil Webb” Sunday Times , November 28, 2004, interview with soccer / football player
- ↑ 1 2 Profession - football agent / utro.ru
- ↑ Starting from the new year, agents and specially created firms will be forbidden to redeem the rights to football players