The FA charged English League One side Accrington Stanley with misconduct, alleging the club “engaged a person who was not a registered football agent” to assist in a player transfer, contrary to the FA’s Football Agent Regulations and Rule E1.2. An independent Regulatory Commission heard the case in July and returned a verdict of “Not Proven.” The FA appealed; the Appeal Board dismissed the appeal, leaving the original outcome intact.

In August 2025, a coalition of over 40 prospective football agents initiated proceedings against FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), challenging the integrity of the June 18, 2025 online agent licensing examination. The claimants allege the examination was marred by significant technical issues such as platform outages, loss of time, and answer submission failures, this compromised the fairness of the process.

A reminder to all licensed football agents

The football representation market is undergoing its most aggressive bout of consolidation in decades. Investors and agency principals are stitching together regional boutiques to create globe spanning agencies with hundreds of clients and deep corporate pockets. For independent agents, the ground is shifting fast.

The promise of a European trial or a professional contract can blind even seasoned footballers.

FIFA has opened a formal investigation into a reported €1.2 million commission paid by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) to businessman Diego Fernandes for brokering Carlo Ancelotti’s hiring as Brazil head coach, demanding documentary evidence and an explanation of the payment structure

When the FIFA General Secretariat provisionally suspended British agent Jonathan Beckett’s licence on 16 September 2024 for allegedly working on an Aston Villa contract before he had a FIFA licence, it looked like a routine disciplinary move under the new Football Agent Regulations (FFAR). Beckett appealed, and on 15 May 2025 the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned the decision—exposing a gaping hole in FIFA’s enforcement powers.

When FIFA switched its Football Agent Exam to an all online, remotely proctored format for the first time on 18 June 2025, the aim was to make licensing cheaper and more uniform: candidates paid US $100 to answer 20 multiple choice questions in 60 minutes, with a 75 % pass mark and only one sitting per year from 2025 onward

Yesterday’s verdict from the DNCG that drops Olympique Lyonnais into Ligue 2 struck me with a jolt of déjà-vu. I’ve been a FIFA-licensed agent for fifteen years; I rode out Bastia’s collapse in 2017 and Bordeaux’s implosion in 2024, and I can tell you first-hand what happens next—for supporters, for players, and, above all, for the people who broker their careers.

Everton have replaced their traditional Director-of-Football (DoF) model with a deliberately “flatter” recruitment architecture that parcels the old DoF remit among four senior specialists working alongside manager David Moyes and new CEO Angus Kinnear. The club argues the structure is more resilient, more transparent and better aligned with modern data-driven decision-making. Yet it also changes the way agents must navigate Finch Farm, raising strategic questions for every agent who hopes to place talent there - or at any club that may copy the blueprint.