The activity of representing football players – commonly known as agent activity, but legally classified as the activity of sports entrepreneur (empresário desportivo) – is subject in Portugal to a legal regime of its own, laid down in Chapter VII of Law No. 54/2017 of 14 July. This article forms part of the Sports Law area of Araújo & Associados.
What a sports entrepreneur is
Under Law No. 54/2017, a sports entrepreneur is a person who carries out the activity of representing sports practitioners or sports employers in the negotiation and conclusion of sports contracts. The exercise of this activity is subject to mandatory registration, pursuant to Article 37 of the law, and may not, in principle, be carried out by anyone who is not duly registered.
The representation or intermediation contract
The representation or intermediation contract, regulated by Article 38 of Law No. 54/2017, is a service contract entered into between the sports entrepreneur and the sports practitioner, or between the entrepreneur and the sports employer. This contract is subject to specific formalities:
- Mandatory written form, with detailed terms as to the services owed by the entrepreneur to the counterparty;
- Specification of the remuneration agreed in return for the representation activity;
- A maximum duration of two years, with no possibility of including automatic renewal clauses – once the term has expired, a new representation contract, if desired, must be entered into separately between the parties.
Mandatory identification of the entrepreneur in the sports contract
One of the requirements introduced by Law No. 54/2017 is that the sports employment contract itself must identify the sports entrepreneur who took part in it or, where there was no entrepreneur, contain an express statement that the contract was concluded without such involvement. The sports employment contract must also be drawn up in triplicate, one copy being intended for registration with the competent body, and registration may be refused where the applicable legal requirements, including this identification, are not met.
Limitations on the activity of sports entrepreneur
Article 39 of Law No. 54/2017 lays down limitations on the exercise of the activity of sports entrepreneur, intended to prevent conflicts of interest in the negotiation of sports contracts. These limitations are complemented by rules contained in related legislation: Law No. 39/2023 of 4 August, which approved the new legal regime for sports companies, expressly prevents anyone engaged in the activity of intermediation or representation of players and coaches – as well as anyone with links to companies related to sports betting – from taking up the position of qualified investor, director or manager of a sports company, thereby preventing situations in which the same person could be, simultaneously, on both sides of a negotiation.
The FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR)
In addition to the national regime of Law No. 54/2017, all agents are also subject to the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR), approved in December 2022, with the provisions on access to the activity in force since 9 January 2023, and the provisions on the exercise of the activity fully in force since 1 October 2023. The FFAR represents a return to a system of mandatory licensing, after FIFA abolished agent licences in 2015 and replaced them with a simpler system of intermediaries. To carry out the activity under the FFAR, the agent must pass an entry exam organised by FIFA, and pay an annual licence fee – currently 600 US dollars in the first year, and 300 dollars in subsequent years -, payable by 30 September each year.
Football agents and other related matters
The involvement of a sports entrepreneur is frequent in the negotiation of sports employment contracts, a matter developed in more detail in the article Sports contracts in Portugal – what you need to know. Unpaid fees for representation services provided by a sports entrepreneur may also give rise to collection proceedings, dealt with in the article Debt collection in sport – recovery routes.
About Araújo & Associados
Established in 1980, with offices in Porto and Lisbon, Araújo & Associados provides legal advice to sports entrepreneurs, players and clubs on the negotiation and drafting of representation contracts, in Portuguese, English, French, German and Spanish.
Frequently asked questions about football agents
Can anyone work as a players' agent in Portugal?
No. The activity, legally designated as the activity of sports entrepreneur, is subject to mandatory registration under Article 37 of Law No. 54/2017, and may not be carried out by anyone who is not duly registered.
Can a contract with a football agent be automatically renewed?
No. The representation or intermediation contract has, by law, a maximum duration of two years, the inclusion of automatic renewal clauses being expressly prohibited, pursuant to Article 38 of Law No. 54/2017.
Must the player's contract identify the agent involved in the negotiation?
Yes. The sports employment contract must identify the sports entrepreneur who took part in it or, where no entrepreneur was involved, contain an express statement to that effect.
Can a football agent also be a director of a sports company?
As a rule, no. Law No. 39/2023, on sports companies, expressly prevents anyone engaged in the activity of intermediation or representation of players and coaches from taking up the position of qualified investor, director or manager of a sports company.
Must the representation contract specify how much the agent will receive?
Yes. Specification of the remuneration agreed in return for the representation activity is a requirement of the representation or intermediation contract itself, pursuant to Article 38 of Law No. 54/2017.
What happens if registration of the sports employment contract is refused for lack of identification of the sports entrepreneur?
Registration of the contract may be refused where the applicable legal requirements are not met, which reinforces the importance of ensuring that the contract contains all the statements required by law before it is submitted for registration.
In addition to registration in Portugal, do football agents need a FIFA licence?
Yes. Since 1 October 2023, the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR) require agents to pass an entry exam and pay an annual licence fee in order to carry out the activity in this context.
Contact us
For more information on the legal regime for football agents, or to book a legal consultation, you can contact us through our Porto or Lisbon offices, by telephone, email or via the form on the website. We provide legal advice in Portuguese, English, French, German and Spanish.