On 14/11, Alkis Papantoniou, the Managing Lawyer of AP Sports Law, had the honour of being a guest speaker at the 11th AIAF Congress, co-hosted by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where we came together with exceptional sports professionals from around the globe.
As a guest speaker, Mr Papantoniou participated in the roundtable titled “Latest Updates on New FIFA Regulations (Summary Report of the 3rd AIAF-FIFA Workshop)”. As the title suggests, the most recent issues in connection with the FIFA Regulations were discussed, opening a constructing and fruitful dialogue about the positive regulatory steps taken by FIFA, aspects that need improvement, and the future actions and challenges that FIFA is going to face and embrace.
The first part of the discussion moved around the 3rd AIAF – FIFA Workshop, held in May 2024, an important initiative, and now a tradition, through which the sports-law experts of AIAF provide their proposals to FIFA for the improvement of the FIFA RSTP.
The second issue that was discussed in the Round Table was the new FIFA NDRC Regulation, coming into force on 01.01.2025.
The New Regulation brings significant changes to the functioning of national dispute resolution bodies of Member Associations, aiming to offer increased safety and clarity for clubs and players.
From 01.01.2025, NDRC that have not passed the assessment provided in the new FIFA regulations, shall not be competent to adjudicate disputes of an international nature.
Substantial changes include that:
- the compliance of an NDRC will not be examined on a case-by-case basis
- proceedings before NDRCs shall be free of costs
- all the decisions of the NDRCs shall be published.
The members of the panel also discussed two very “hot” topics of the football world during the last couple of years. The regulatory framework regarding football agents and the FIFA Clearing House Regulation.
Concerning the FIFA Football Agents Regulation, several issues were addressed including its application, the litigation proceedings around the world, and the current status of agents.
In the shadow of the proceedings before the CJEU, clubs, footballers and most importantly agents are in a “no man’s land”, since their position in the spectrum of football is not clear.
As AP Sports Law Office, we underlined the importance of the following actions by FIFA:
a. Re-publish the list of licenced agents, in order for potential clients to be in a position to enter into legal and valid agreements
b. Re-activate the FIFA Agents Chamber, in order to protect those agents that have acquired the FIFA Football Agents Licence.
c. Issue a guide about the consequences of the suspension of specific FFAR provisions, in order to clarify to clubs and players the “dos” and “don’ts” for the period that the relevant FFAR provisions remain suspended.
Finally, the members of the round table discussed the FIFA Clearing House and all matters surrounding its operation. The positives and the negatives, and measures – practical and regulatory – that will facilitate the effective and efficient distribution of training rewards.
At AP Sports Law Office, we have faith and trust in the vision of the FIFA Clearing House. Nevertheless, until today, the results are not entirely satisfying. The early operation of the FCH system provides an unfair advantage to “big clubs”, especially those that pay significant transfer fees, from evading their obligations under the FCHR, delaying payments for significant periods of time with low costs for them.
Also, until today, FIFA does not offer a reasonable path for the correction of obvious mistakes or procedural omissions in the EPPs. The fact that the relevant FIFA decisions can only be challenged before CAS, against significant costs, sets a substantial impediment to clubs from receiving their training rewards under these circumstances.
All in all, the general picture of the FCHR application until today is that clubs and associations were not ready to operate under such a system.
We briefly stated that – amongst others – the following measures could result in the improvement of the FCHR:
- Engaging Clubs that fail to pay training rewards shall face adequate sanctions, including the establishment of an appropriate financial penalty (eg. 10% of the total amount payable);
- Direct communication between FIFA, the FCH and clubs that do not have access to the FIFA TMS Platform (through their official contact or through authorised representatives);
- Direct corrections of the EPPs by FIFA, without the need for the relevant federation to intervene, if there is sufficient and reliable evidence by the relevant clubs;
- Reinstatement of the capacity of clubs to lodge a claim before the FIFA DRC within 24 months from the generation of the EPP, in case the club is not included in the final EPP. The EPP determination and the Allocation Statement shall not be final (for the part in which no registration information exists), until the lapse of the 24 months.
- Flexibility in the correction of mistakes in the EPPs, at any time within 24 months from the issuance of the EPP, in order for training clubs (which are usually smaller clubs) to not miss out on important revenues, to the benefit of engaging clubs (which are usually bigger and/or wealthy clubs.