Today marked the annual get together of the Association of Football Agents ("AFA") at the Hive Stadium, home to Barnet FC.
And there was certainly a sting in the tail, regarding the long trailed and highly contentious plans of football's world governing body to limit agents of the selling club to a maximum of 10% of the transfer fee in all circumstances, as well as applying a 3% cap to both the player's fee and that of agents for the buying club.
There was a good deal of anger in the room at FIFA's perceived failure to engage with the agent community. And as my colleague Jack Richards pointed out shortly before Christmas, the AFA has previously threatened action, describing the issue as It's greatest challenge yet.
This all flows from the publication of Edge Hill Universities report, ‘Promoting and Supporting Good Governance in the European Football Agents Industry’, unveiled at a conference attended by FIFA's Chief Legal officer and hosted by Kings Chambers, at the Etihad Stadium last November; my detailed thoughts on that event, having attended, can be found here.
It's perhaps worth noting that FIFA's consultation process, to which the AFA refer, will get underway shortly. It remains to be seen whether the present rumblings of discontent become a full blown storm, but it seems reasonable to assume that this is an issue which is only going to increase in intensity and is unlikely to blow over, any time soon.
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