A European representative who has a host of top African players as his clients has spoken to KickOff about the recent FIFA exam that a shock 48% of player representatives failed.
FIFA has confirmed that only 52% of the agents who wrote the first-ever football agent test on 19 April passed, with 1 962 of the 3800 exam writers achieving the required mark for the paper.
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The open-book test reportedly consisted of 20 multiple choice questions based on a 528-page study document containing the rules and regulations of the game.
One of the agents who passed the exam was Guilherme von Cupper, the CEO for BfT - Bridge for Talents, a German football agency that has a host of stars playing in Africa and Europe, including Maritzburg United and Ghana striker Kwame Peprah.
The player representative has now shed light on what the test was like and why some really struggled.
"The test was mostly about FIFA Regulations and Rules in the study material FIFA made available in an open-book exam," Von Cupper told KickOff.
"The test covered all the relevant football regulations such as the status of transfer of players and the FIFA stature. Everything concerning FIFA regulations that have any standing in the world of football.
"It was 20 questions which you had to get 75% correct. Some of the answers are multiple choice, where more than one answer is correct so if you only put down one, then it will be wrong.
"You only had 60 minutes to complete the test, so three minutes per questions, and some of them were quite long as they had practical cases. So this was mostly the problem."
Von Cupper also explained how he had something of an advantage over others going into the exam.
"I am an agent but also a legal consultant, which benefited me. I imagine that a lot of people applying for this test had no knowledge of the FIFA regulations, which makes it easier to understand why it was so difficult for them," he continued.
"Some of the questions I had to read and re-read in order to interpret it. It was definitely not easy, I would say."
Asked if the tough test was needed to get rid of or weed out unscrupulous representatives, he responded: "These new regulations have some positive aspects like clear rules for representation, clear rules for who can be an agent and conflict of interest. I think it is important that the agents have at least a minimum standard that allows them to work.
"I do not know if an exam is necessarily the best option available. The licence I now have is mandatary to be renewed every year, but it is a definite and works worldwide.
"However, every year I will have to make a tutorial that FIFA is imposing to all the agents to make sure I am up to date. This may be enough to make sure that the agents are doing their job.
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"The main problem here is not the regulations but some of the things FIFA added in these regulations. FIFA is limiting so much; I think it is important and has a place, but the football industry is one that moves millions.
"Everyone has their share but why should the agents, the ugly back of the business, have their commissions so capped? In other industries it is not the same; if you are a real estate agent, then you can negotiate this cap.
"I think FIFA is being too strict with the agents, they are trying to attack the big ones and I think a limit should actually be inserted.
"In the end, you are speaking about only 3% or 5% depending on remuneration when you're working with the players. Since you can get 10% for the transfer fee, if you work with the releasing entity, agents would prefer to work with the clubs and not the players.
"This can be a problem because players are still not earning a lot of money. So the players who are still growing into the market will have a difficult time finding a good agent."
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