Dual representation
Also called double representation, multiple representation
Dual representation is one agent acting for more than one party in the same transaction, which the regulations permit only between a player and the buying club, with prior written consent from both.
The general rule is one party per transaction. The single exception written into the regulations is an agent acting for an individual and an engaging entity, meaning the player and the buying club, in the same deal, and only where both clients give prior explicit written consent.
The regulations name the combinations that are not permitted: a releasing entity and an individual, a releasing entity and an engaging entity, or all parties at once. A connected agent may not take a different client in the same transaction either.
Note: this provision is currently suspended worldwide until further notice, following a preliminary injunction granted by the Landgericht Dortmund. Check its status before relying on it.
The suspension is why this term causes so much confusion. Most writing on it describes a prohibition that is not currently being enforced, and national regulations vary because member associations were recommended to suspend their equivalent provisions too. Consent in writing from everyone involved remains the sensible practice whatever the enforcement position, and the disclosure it creates is worth having on file.
Worked example
An agent acting for the player and the buying club, with written consent from both, is the permitted case.
An agent acting for the selling club and the player in the same deal is named in the regulations as not permitted, though enforcement of that paragraph is currently suspended.
Source: FIFA Football Agent Regulations, art. 12 paras. 8 to 10
Related terms
- Representation agreementA representation agreement is the written contract a football agent must have in place with a client before performing any agent services for them.
- Service feeA service fee is what a football agent charges a client for agent services, on the terms agreed in their representation agreement.