The chairman of the Association of Football Agents (AFA) Mike Miller, said on Friday (September 30) that tougher regulation needed to be introduced to ensure rogue agents are kept in check, providing the best service for their clients as possible.
"What we want to see is a proper system, which is informed by those people who work within the game, so that there is regulation, there's recourse if anything goes wrong, it's independent and the people who work within the game and especially as agents are concerned, the footballers, the clubs, families of the footballers, feel trust and transparency, they know that if they go to someone to help them out, to get what is their right, what is their due, that they'll be able to choose from among a group of people who are professional and well regulated, and to get what they need, which is to be properly remunerated for the work they do," said Miller.
"Deregulation has meant that it's more difficult for people to know whether they're dealing with people who are professional, people who have up to date knowledge about how to act through the laws, the regulations, and in the UK, before deregulation, there are around 300 or so agents, there's now 1,500. To become an agent now, all you have to do is basically pay your money, sign a form that says you don't have a criminal record and whatever, and that's it. Previously, you had to take a test, you had to show that you had insurance, you had to prove that you had the ability to do the job. What agents want is for that to be brought back in, to be made even tougher, because it's the clients who suffer if they get someone who doesn't know the job and can't actually act in their best interests," he added.
Police have asked to see transcripts relating to the investigation into alleged corruption in English soccer before they can be released to the Football Association (FA), the Daily Telegraph - which broke the story through a sting operation - reported on Friday (September 30).
The newspaper said it still intended to provide the FA with "the relevant transcripts", as it had stated it would earlier in the week.
The newspaper's revelations have so far led to England manager Sam Allardyce and Barnsley assistant manager Tommy Wright losing their jobs.
The long-running investigation by the newspaper also suggested eight current and former Premier League managers had received 'bungs', or illicit payments, for player transfers.
Allardyce was sacked on Tuesday after the FA said he had behaved inappropriately following secret filming that showed him offering advice to businessmen on how to circumvent rules on player transfers.
