Football Supporters Europe’s (FSE) annual conference is on the horizon as supporters from dozens of countries join forces in Malmö (Sweden) on Saturday 28th June for the European Football Fans Congress.

One of the issues which looks likely to be central to discussions is that of agent fees – it’s a continent-wide problem which requires big thinking and big solutions. 

We know it’s on FSE’s radar and many FSA members are heading across to Malmö. We have representation on the FSE’s Board, so it’s a discussion which supporters from England and Wales will play a key part in.

Our own AGM has just taken place and we received a very strong motion on the regulation of football agents, proposed by Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) and seconded by a wide-range of supporters’ organisations (see Motion 9 p40).

Staggering amounts

The figures are staggering with Premier League clubs alone paying £409m during the 2023-24 season while a further £73.5m was spent by clubs in the EFL.

AST’s proposed motion to our AGM noted that players deserve good quality, professional representation, but increased regulation around those fees could save clubs a lot of money which could be reinvested in the game. Imagine if clubs used that money to improve the matchday experience and keep ticket prices down?

It called on the FSA to support the introduction of statutory regulation for football agents that would include the capping of agent fees – and this certainly chimes with our longheld belief that football has a spending problem, not an income problem.

While there’s no doubt that such measures will be challenged by agents, the incoming independent regulation on football clubs has a strong focus on financial controls – and hundreds of millions leaving the game every year is a concern.

For all FIFA’s faults this does seem one area in which they are looking to take action – last month the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on the side of football’s world governing body and its plan to cap agent fees. 

FIFA said it “believes that the Football Agent Regulations, which are the result of a long and inclusive consultation process, are fully justified and provide a transparent, reasonable and proportionate framework to help resolve systemic failures in the player transfer system and protect the stability of squads and the integrity of football competitions.”

Due to time constraints Saturday’s AGM Motion 9 was ultimately remitted to the FSA National Council for formal consideration. In the interim this motion’s intent will become our policy position and our representatives at the European Football Fans Congress will take this motion and the support of FSA affiliates into discussions with FSE colleagues.

The issue of agent fees isn’t going away – and it’s one which football supporters across the continent clearly feel strongly enough about to come together, with a view to creating a unified policy position. 

Watch this space.

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