adminLONDON. – Several football agents were pictured leaving ExCel London after sitting a FIFA exam they must pass to keep operating in the game.
Agents need to successfully navigate the hour-long, rigorous exam in order to keep their licences, leaving hundreds of them sweating on their future in the game.
Should the hopefuls mess up Wednesday’s test they will have the chance of a resit in September, but fail that and they will not be allowed to be licensed agents.
This will bar them from transfer and contract negotiations as well as speaking to clubs, players and players’ families, unless in the company of a registered agent. The exam comes on the back of FIFA’s decision to re-regulate the industry, following its deregulation in 2015.
And on Wednesday, hundreds of agents took the exam with Mail Sport picturing their arrival and departures.
After FIFA deregulated the industry eight years ago, there was an influx of new agents who only had to pay £500 to register with the FA, with some questioning the quality and motivations of some of these individuals.
There are fears that up to 80 per cent of participants could fail the exam although some long-serving agents are ‘exempt’.
Prior to 2015, the same test had a pass rate of less than 20 per cent and agents fear the ratio will be similar.
This means the number of licenced agents, which currently stands at more than 2,000 in the UK, is likely to take a drastic cut when October’s deadline for passing the paper comes around.
The exam comprises 20 multiple choice questions, has a pass score of 75 per cent and candidates have access on their laptop to a 528-page study document containing FIFA regulations.
The key aspects include rules on transfers, training compensation, working with minors, the agent licensing system, commission caps, conflicts of interests and disciplinary and legal systems. – Mailonline
Online Reporter