Cor Coster, Mino Raiola, Jorge Mendez are immediately referable to the world of soccer and precisely to the - commonly known - "sports agents", more correctly defined sports agents in relation to the existing rules?)
But who are the sports agents and, above all, what are the rules, that regulate their field of action and protect their interests?
With the Budget Law of 2018 (Law 205/2017, art. 1 paragraph 373) and in implementation of the Prime Ministerial Decree of 23 March 2018 and subsequent amendments and additions, the National Register of Sports Agents was established at the Coni.
From the aforementioned Decree, the Regulations for Sporting Agents, issued by CONI in 2019 and recently amended by resolution of the National Council no. 127 of 14 May 2020, and the Regulations issued - in the field of football - by the FIGC on June 10, 2019, will be analyzed here the procedures for access to the category, the exercise of the office of agent and any invalidity of the same, as well as the causes of cancellation from the register, in addition to the discipline of sports agents established and domiciled.
Sports Agents are considered to be all those who "relate two or more persons for purposes:
1. the establishment, modification or termination of a relationship having as its object a professional performance;
2. the conclusion of a contract for the transfer of professional sports performance;
3. membership in a national professional sports federation".
Minimum subjective requirements for registration in the National Register are:
1. Italian citizenship or citizenship of another member state of the European Union or non-member state of the European Union with a regular residence permit;
2. full enjoyment of civil rights in the absence of disqualification, incapacitation, bankruptcy;
3. possession of a secondary school diploma or equivalent qualification;
4. absence of convictions for non negligent crimes in the last five years prior to enrolment.
The aspiring sports agent in possession of the above requirements, in order to be enrolled in the National Register, must necessarily take a qualifying examination articulated in a general test, which takes place at the CONI, and a special test, which takes place at the national professional sports federations.
The manner in which these tests are held is governed respectively by Articles 4 and 5 of the Prime Ministerial Decree to which reference.
The person who validly passes the two tests may submit a request for registration to the national professional sports federation where he or she has taken part in the special test which, within the following 20 days, shall issue the agent with a certificate of registration (see Art. 6 of the Prime Ministerial Decree).
The agent - who has obtained this qualification - may work in one or more national professional sports federations with which he is registered.
Any assignment given to a person not registered in the National Register of Sports Agents in the manner provided for by law shall be considered null and void (see Art. 7 of the Prime Ministerial Decree), without prejudice to the provisions of Article 348 of the Italian Criminal Code on the abusive exercise of the profession.
Contrary to what previously provided, therefore, the nullity affects only the assignment conferred and not the entire "sports performance contract, transfer contract or membership with a Federation".
The registered agent then has, like most professionals, the obligation of constant updating through participation in courses organized and accredited by the national professional sports federation in which he operates, and the obligation to renew the annual registration on pain of cancellation from the National Register.
Other causes of cancellation from the National Register are, as expressly indicated in Article 10 of the DPCM:
i. the occurrence of a cause of incompatibility provided for in the CONI regulations;
ii. the absence of one of the subjective requirements set forth in article 2 and listed above;
iii. the deletion from the Federal Register as a result of the failure of any of the requirements that may be required of each national professional sports federation, provided that the agent is not validly registered in the Federal Register of another national professional sports federation.
The above-mentioned regulations (Regulations for Sporting Agents - CONI, the DPCM of 23
March 2018 and the FIGC Regulations of 10 June 2019) also regulate two other figures of Sporting Agents:
• EU agents;
• non-EU agents.
EU agents are those who, as Italian citizens or citizens of another Member State of the European Union, have obtained the title of agent in another Member State of the Union by passing tests equivalent to those required by Italian law.
Therefore, qualified to operate in another member state of the European Union and within the corresponding national sports federation, established sports agents are registered in a special section of the National Register and can operate without any limitations using the title recognized abroad (within the EU borders). After three years from the registration in the special section, established sports agents who are in good standing and who have carried out the profession of sports agent in Italy in an effective and regular manner (five assignments per year for three years) may apply for registration in the Federal Register and in the CONI Register without being subject to a qualification examination.
Non-EU agents, also called domiciled sports agents, are instead those non-European citizens who have obtained the title of sports agent in a non-EU country and who can operate in Italy only after domiciliation with an agent duly registered in the national register or in the federal register of the relevant federation.
The latter may operate always and only by explicitly indicating the title recognized in the country of origin adding the name of the agent registered in the national register where they are domiciled.
The discipline provided for non-European/domiciled sports agents also applies to those Italian or European citizens qualified within the EU borders but with different proofs ("not equivalent") to those provided for by Italian law.