Source: Politics
With the World Cup putting soccer firmly in the global spotlight, FIFA has scored an important — if incomplete — victory off the pitch.
The EU’s top court on Thursday declined to strike down FIFA’s rules governing soccer agents. Instead, it handed the final decision back to a German court, which will now have to decide whether the regulations comply with EU law. The case was brought by two soccer agents who challenged several of FIFA’s rules, arguing they unfairly restrict competition and limit how agents can do business.
The judges didn’t decide whether FIFA’s rulebook is legal or illegal. Instead, they said the German court must examine whether each restriction genuinely serves a legitimate purpose — such as protecting players or preventing conflicts of interest — and whether it goes no further than necessary.
One rule, however, clearly caught the court’s attention. FIFA generally prevents agents from approaching players or coaches who are already represented by another agent until the final two months of an exclusive contract. According to the judges, that rule appears to protect established agents from competition and could amount to an abuse if FIFA holds a dominant position in the market.
That doesn’t mean the rule automatically falls. Nor does it spell the end of FIFA’s broader regulatory framework.
Other controversial measures — including limits on agents’ fees, licensing requirements and restrictions on representing multiple parties in the same transfer — could still survive. But they will now have to clear a stricter legal test before the German court.
For FIFA, that’s enough to keep its rulebook alive. For soccer agents challenging the regulations, the judgment offers a clear roadmap for attacking the most restrictive parts.
Read MorePolitics, World Cup, FIFA, European Union