Legal Status of a Professional Player's Agent: A Study of the Professional Football Contract

A professional player’s agent is a person licensed under the regulations of FIFA and national football associations to represent players, coaches, or sports institutions in contractual and professional matters. The increasing commercialization of modern sport has strengthened the role of sports agents in negotiating contracts, managing transfers, and supporting athletes’ professional careers. This study examines the legal status of the professional player’s agent and the contractual nature of the relationship between the agent and the athlete. It adopts a descriptive, analytical, and comparative legal approach, analysing Iraqi, Egyptian, and French legislation alongside FIFA regulations governing sports intermediaries and agents. The research focuses on the historical development of the sports agency profession, the legal classification of the agency contract, and the scope of the agent’s professional responsibilities. It also evaluates the compatibility of sports agency with other professional roles, particularly the legal profession. The study concludes that the sports agency contract represents a special hybrid contractual relationship combining elements of agency and mediation, and that clearer legislative regulation is required in national systems to ensure legal certainty and effective governance in professional sport.