UCFB recently held a conference in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam, focusing on current regulatory issues in football.
The event took place at our iconic Wembley Campus on February 21, and was attended by dozens of sports industry professionals, from executives to agents and lawyers to academics.
The aim of the event, supported by the European Football Agents Association, was to highlight football governing bodies' regulatory capacities and their corresponding limitations.
A focal point was the recent proposed changes to the regulation of transfers and football agents.
The event provided a valuable contribution to theoretical and practical knowledge for academics, football executives, football agents, lawyers, consultants and students of football.
One of the attendees, Blackstone Chambers, subsequently collaborated with us for the latest episode of their Sports Law podcast, focusing on the event. To listen to the full episode, click here.
Dr Roberto Branco Martins from the University of Amsterdam and the European Football Agents Association said about the event:
“‘Controlling the Game’ brought to light a number of issues underpinning the football sector, and as with any good event, left a lot of room for discussion and delving deeper with a critical eye into such issues, from industry diversity to sport governing models, stakeholder relationships to potential (dire) consequences of new agent regulations.
“It became clear that the world’s leading football agents across various continents are all aligned in their actions against the formal introduction of these FIFA regulations in October 2023, with legal actions from agents around the world at the forefront.”
Adrian Bevington, managing director at PROProfil UK said: “It’s a great event because it’s a great mixture of students, industry experts from different sectors within the game, whether it be agents, commercial people, lawyers.
“It’s a really good mix of people who are here to understand the differences that are continually evolving in the game.
“It’s quite a big moment, this moment in time, with new regulations set in play.”
CEO of LawInSport Sean Cottrell added: “The European Association of Football Agents have consistently been doing a lot of great work in terms of educating people about issues agents are facing.
“I’ve come to make sure I’m on top and aware of what the different stakeholders of football are saying about “features, new agent regulations, about some of the challenges our agents are facing.”
Streaming now Episode 8 of the Sports Law Podcast. Join Nick De Marco KC, @nickdemarco_, in “’Controlling the Game’ Live Agents Panel” in his collaboration with @UCFB, @GIS_Sport, @AIAS, and EFAA: https://t.co/TbWMG7Bm0a pic.twitter.com/EyndE4X4li
— Blackstone Chambers (@BlackstoneChbrs) February 28, 2023
Nick de Marco KC, barrister at Blackstone Chambers, said: “Just talking to people is one way to find out. It’s such a small business, football. Everyone knows each other in football.
“Once you get to know people and the faces around, it really helps.”
To find out more about a career as a football agent, click here.
