League boss Mawhinney wants action over agents

FOOTBALL League chairman Brian Mawhinney has called for greater regulations on the use of agents in the game after a new report showed a sharp increase in third-party transfer payments made by clubs.

The League's second six-monthly Agents' Fees report revealed its member clubs spent £5,024,789 over the period since June an increase of over £3.6m from the equivalent period ending last summer.

Mawhinney said the figures showed too much money is leaving the game via agents, and suggested that a closer inspection of this aspect of football finance would be an encouraging consequence of the League clubs' transparency.

Mawhinney said: "In my own view the deals which involve agents do need to be more transparent and this report is a step in that direction.

Since the first report there have been more discussions about the role of agents in the game, and the very fact that our member clubs took the lead in this respect has started to have an effect on the whole issue of agents in football.

"This report covers a period during which the transfer market is traditionally busy as clubs, including those whose divisional status has changed, shape their squad for the new season.

"Therefore, these figures were always likely to be higher than for the previous six months and I would expect that pattern to continue. Nevertheless, too much money is leaving football through payments to agents."

Leeds were by far the biggest spenders on agents, paying out £1,553,688 in the period of the report as they sought to sell off their highest wage earners following relegation from the Premiership.

Last season's other relegated clubs, Leicester (£405,000) and Wolves (£306,121) were the next biggest spenders.

Crewe were the only Championship club not to pay any money to agents so far this season.

While Leeds insisted their payment was a necessary part of trimming their squad and ultimately saved them in the region of £20m in wages, top agents reacted negatively to the report.

They claim they are too easy a target for the game's governing bodies who ought to be looking elsewhere to help ease the financial problems afflicting the game at a lower level.

Mawhinney was quick to reject the charge that the report was designed to put pressure on the work of agents in the game. Instead, he stressed it was merely to make both agents and clubs more accountable to their supporters, and to provoke debates about possible future reform where appropriate.

He added: "The purpose of this report is not to say all agents are bad but to help them begin dialogues with their supporters where necessary. However this report does strengthen the argument of those who believe that football needs an effective regulatory framework to ensure a level playing field."

The report showed that agents were used in 257 of 1,498 transactions carried out by Championship clubs during the period of the report, and only 16 of the League's total number of clubs did not pay for the services of an agent during that time.

Mawhinney said he hoped the League would play a prominent role in any future discussions, having broken new ground in persuading its member clubs to go public on the issue.

However, he admitted it was for the FA and FIFA to lead the way in talking to leading agents and devising a better system for the good of the game.

Mawhinney added: "This provides an opportunity for FIFA and the FA to do what many people say is required. We have already played a part in the consultation process and it would seem to be an important step forward to begin with if agents are in future only paid by the club or the player, but not both."