BRUSSELS:
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has raised doubts on the legality of some rules for player agents set up by the world governing football body Fifa, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
The ECJ said on Thursday that a rule preventing agents from approaching a player or coach who is bound by an exclusive representation agreement outside a specified period could be “incompatible with the prohibition on cartels”, as it would give other agents already bound by exclusive representation agreements and able to conclude contracts outside that period “an undue advantage”.
The Strasbourg judges, however, said that the final decision would always rest with the court handling such matters.
The RRC company had sought an injunction against some of the Fifa regulations at a district court in Mainz, Germany, which then requested a ruling from the ECJ.
The contested rules included multiple representation, agent remuneration, obtaining a Fifa licence and the disclosure of certain data to Fifa.
The ECJ said that Fifa rules restricting multiple representation and agent licensing “constitute obstacles to that fundamental freedom”.
But it said it was up to a court to ultimately assess “whether those obstacles to the freedom to provide services can be justified by a legitimate objective in the public interest” in areas including protecting players and coaches from abusive practices by agents.
Fifa has said that the rules are needed to maintain the integrity of the game and to ensure transparency and expressed satisfaction with Thursday’s ruling.
It said the ECJ “supports key elements” of its regulations and “confirms Fifa’s regulatory authority in relation to football agents”.
The ruling comes a week after the ECJ ruled on a similar case between agents Rogon and the German Football Federation (DFB) that DFB agent regulations “may fall within an exception to the prohibition on cartels”.
That case has moved to Germany’s highest court, the Federal Court of Justice.
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