Leading South African football agent, Mike Makaab, says that he feels sorry for the honest young agents starting out in the business that are likely to now lose their jobs.
New FIFA rules that came into play today (April 1st) stipulate that the role of football 'agents' has been abolished, with player representatives now set to be known as intermediaries and their agent licences nullified.
Agents who have sat and passed the relevant exams, as well as paying member fees, to be a registered FIFA agent are now no longer able to work unless they make it onto each federation's intermediary list.
Also, while the rest of the world is working on FIFA's guideline of a 3% commission fee for agents (basically 3% minimum), SAFA are seeking to cap it at 3%, meaning that agents are unable to make more than that on a deal.
Most agents tend to work on a 5-10% comission on their deals, meaning that the new rules could effectively slash their profits by 70%, something that could consequently putt a number of agencies out of business.
Speaking on the matter today, Makaab said, "As far as I'm aware, South Africa is the only 'first world' country to stipulate a fixed 3% fee.. I say first world because I'd expect a league like the PSL, whom claim to be in the Top 10 leagues in the world, to be a 'first world' footballing country.
"I truly feel sorry for the young agents who have gone to the trouble of writing their exams, setting up their businesses and doing things in the correct way. I feel sorry for them, because effectively they don't have a business any longer.
"Luckily for us we have a an company (Prosport International) that has been in operation for more than two decades, and if it means restructuring our business to suit these new rules, then so be it."
Check out toay's Soccer Laduma for an in depth interview with one of South Africa's most prominent agents as they lift the lid on how the industry should be working.
