The recent entry into force of Decree No. 218/2025 (Regulation implementing and supplementing the rules on representation relationships involving athletes and sports clubs and access to the profession of sports agent – the ‘Decree’), implementing Legislative Decree No. 37/2021, has raised questions and concerns, particularly in the football sector, where the largest number of transactions involving subjects covered by the legislation take place. Agents and international agencies are especially affected, with consequential impacts on football clubs, players and their respective legal advisers.
Foreign sports agents operating or intending to operate on a stable basis in the Italian market are now required to confront a changed regulatory framework which – once also implemented within the sports system by CONI and FIGC (or other relevant federations) – will have very serious, and potentially inhibiting, repercussions on organisational structures and operating methods.
Following an inscrutable ratio, which cannot be discerned even in Legislative Decree No. 37/2021 which it implements, the Decree regulates substantially identical situations differently, the only distinguishing factor being the nationality of the regulated subject. This choice not only lacks any apparent “systemic” benefit, but also isolates Italy within an otherwise well-integrated market, regulated – both domestically and internationally – in a harmonised manner.
Access to the profession
The Decree redesigns the methods for accessing and practising the profession of sports agent. In doing so, it significantly affects long-established operating structures.
Four categories of sports agents are provided for:
- ‘Ordinary’ agents, namely: (i) individuals who have passed the national qualification exam (consisting of a general test before CONI and a specific test at federation level); (ii) European Union citizens holding a FIFA qualification obtained before 31 March 2015 (in the case of football); and (iii) holders of a qualification issued pursuant to Article 1, paragraph 373, of Law No. 205/2017 (in the case of basketball). These subjects may operate in Italy without restrictions.
- ‘Established’ agents, namely citizens of the European Economic Area or Switzerland who hold a qualification to practise as a sports agent issued in accordance with the legislation of one of those countries, and who have obtained recognition of that qualification in Italy. CONI identifies which European qualifications are equivalent to the national qualification and which require, for recognition purposes, a compensatory measure consisting of an exam similar to that required for ordinary agents. At present, only the qualification issued in France is recognised as equivalent to the Italian one. Like ordinary agents, established agents may operate continuously in Italy.
- ‘Occasional’ agents, namely citizens of the European Economic Area or Switzerland who hold a sports agent qualification in accordance with the legislation of one of those States but have not applied for recognition of their European qualification in Italy. These agents may carry out their activity in Italy on a temporary and occasional basis under the freedom to provide services regime. The Decree clarifies that temporary and occasional activity means the acquisition of one single mandate per calendar year, provided that it has a maximum duration of one year.
- ‘Domiciled’ agents, namely citizens of states other than those belonging to the European Economic Area or Switzerland who: (i) have been authorised to operate for at least one year by a foreign sports federation; (ii) have received and performed at least two mandates in a country other than Italy during the previous year; (iii) have entered into a professional collaboration agreement with an ordinary or established agent; and (iv) are not resident in Italy. These agents may operate in Italy only for three months per calendar year, renewable once.
Compared to the previous regime, the main innovations are: (i) the newly introduced figure of the “occasional” agent; (ii) the new limitations on domiciliation; and (iii) the exclusion of the possibility to operate through legal entities for all agents other than ordinary or established agents.
The latter two limitations, in particular, significantly restrict the ability of foreign agents to operate in Italy. Until now, most foreign agents (both European and non-European) assisting their clients in Italy made use of domiciliation arrangements, collaborating with an agent authorised in Italy, who would receive a portion of the commission in exchange for providing the “domiciliation” service. In practice, this was the only truly viable option, as the Italian qualification exam was (and remains) virtually inaccessible to foreigners. Domiciliation, although involving the assistance (albeit often purely passive) and cost of an ordinary or established agent, was effectively the sole legal route to operate in Italy and was available to all foreign agents not resident in Italy.
The new domiciliation regime
Personal limitations
Compared to the previous regime, a major critical issue concerns access to domiciliation, which is now precluded for European citizens and reserved exclusively for non-EU, non-resident agents. This creates a clear and inexplicable asymmetry: sports agents from different countries, holding the same qualification (the FIFA licence) – and therefore presumably possessing the same knowledge and skills – are subject to different conditions when operating in Italy. Non-EU agents may use domiciliation and represent their clients in Italy; EU agents, on the other hand, have only one option: the ‘compensatory’ exam.
Time limitation
Domiciliation is now subject to a time limit of three months, renewable only once within the same calendar year.
This restriction raises significant practical questions, particularly regarding the continuity of assistance to players and clubs during periods not covered by the maximum six months of registration. In football, for example, a sports agent’s activity does not end with transfer windows (which may fall within the permitted six-month period), but continues throughout the year, including in relation to contract renewals and terminations. Since contract renewals can occur at any time of year, it is unclear how parties can be assisted when negotiations and execution take place during the six months in which the agent cannot be registered.
The system established by the Decree appears to assume a static temporal and territorial dimension of representation activity, which is difficult to reconcile with reality. It does not seem plausible, nor protective of the athlete, to assume that the latter would be effectively forced to change agent in order to accept an employment offer in Italy, or to remain without assistance during certain periods of the year after registration.
Limitations for legal entities
A further distinction arises from the impossibility for foreign agents operating through corporate structures – in practice, almost all operators – to access domiciliation or to be registered in the special section with CONI, FIGC or another federation. While ordinary and established agents operate and invoice in Italy through their legal entities, foreign agents operating via domiciliation or on an occasional basis cannot do so through their companies.
This is a paradoxical, yet unavoidable, conclusion if one considers the wording of Article 4 of the Decree, which reserves the exercise of the activity in corporate form exclusively to ordinary and established agents, identifying them as the only entities entitled to apply for registration of the company in the relevant section of the National Register. Consequently, non-ordinary or non-established agents organised as companies who assist a client in Italy would be forced to operate personally, with evident and serious complications, including fiscal and accounting issues. Even foreign agents who, over the years, have incorporated Italian companies to organise their activities in Italy in compliance with Legislative Decree No. 37/2021 would now be prevented from operating through those entities.
Temporary and occasional activity
If the ratio of the Decree – and earlier, of the entire regulatory framework governing sports agents – is to limit the profession to qualified subjects with an adequate level of competence in order to protect represented clients, it is difficult to understand the decision to exempt “occasional” agents both from the obligation to demonstrate competence comparable to that required of ordinary or established agents and from the obligation to appoint a domiciliation agent.
Under the Decree, an ‘occasional’ agent may operate in Italy in relation to a single mandate per calendar year, without undergoing any verification of competence. As a result, one unfortunate client per year may lawfully be represented by an individual lacking any professional qualification recognised in Italy.
Comparison with other foreign football systems
Worldwide, there are no regulatory frameworks imposing limitations or discrimination comparable to those introduced by the Decree, nor regimes that regulate access to the profession in such a restrictive manner.
In football, following the introduction of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations, most federations have chosen to recognise the FIFA licence as a sufficient qualification to operate in their jurisdictions. The FIFA exam serves as the main access filter. This approach has harmonised the international market, allowing agents to operate within FIFA rules without national barriers.
Italy, by contrast, has opted for a strongly national model based on a dual CONI–federation examination, requiring not only knowledge of sports law but also preparation in civil and administrative law. This exam is largely inaccessible, not only to most aspiring Italian agents, but also to foreign agents. The latter, if citizens of the European Economic Area or Switzerland, may theoretically rely on the compensatory exam introduced by the Decree, which – although it may be taken orally and alternatively in English, Spanish or French – would cover the same subjects, including civil and administrative law.
It is worth noting that France, the first country to introduce a national licensing system subject to a qualification exam, nonetheless allows agents holding a FIFA licence to operate without significant restrictions.
Practical implications: a difficult-to-access market at risk of isolation
The first evident implication is the substantial closure of the Italian market. Stable access is now effectively limited to two categories:
- European Union citizens holding a pre-2015 FIFA licence, who are exempt from qualification exams;
- candidates willing to sit a prohibitive qualification exam covering Italian law subjects.
Leaving aside the very few foreign operators willing to attempt the national exam, the system appears to be reserved almost exclusively for Italian agents or prospective agents. However, football is inherently a global sport, and the transfer market is a transnational ecosystem based on extensive personal relationships and constant player mobility.
Agents act according to economic logic: when a legal framework penalises international operators, making access to and operation in Italy almost impossible, the likely reaction is a shift of activity towards more open markets aligned with FIFA regulations. In a highly competitive environment, national regulation also affects the Italian football system’s ability to attract investment and talent.
A further side-effect concerns the risk of encouraging non-transparent forms of collaboration between unlicensed agents and ordinary or established agents. In a context where direct market access is precluded, agents without a CONI–FIGC licence may be incentivised to structure de facto arrangements or informal understandings with authorised agents in Italy in order to assist their clients. Excessively rigid regulation paradoxically risks encouraging evasive practices or indirect intermediation, resulting in a serious setback in terms of professional transparency.
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For further information, please contact:
Luca Ferrari, Partner, Withersworldwide
luca.ferrari@withersworldwide.com
