Loughborough to host world's first professional course for sports agents in London
Loughborough University and the Association of Football Agents will launch a professional certificate for aspiring football agents later this year.
The 10-week course will begin on 4 October 2018 and will be held at Loughborough University London. The programme is believed to be the first partnership of its kind between a higher education institution and professional trade organisation. Participants will learn about the legal and practical workings of what it takes to be an agent, and will focus on the three core pillars of the agency profession and market:
Regulatory frameworks
Covering legal frameworks governing agents in different sports and explaining to comply with the regulation.
Contemporary legal issues
Analysing a range of issues including player/athlete representation and contracts, dealing with minors, financial crime and corruption in the transfer market, and betting and match-fixing and how to deal with them.
Business practices
Explaining the practicalities of being an agent including negotiating transfers, approaching clubs, managing parents, understanding the psychology of players, and expanding a professional network.
Course leader Dr Serhat Yilmaz, of Loughborough’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS), said:
The programme intends to raise the professional standard of the agent market through education.
The number of agents within the sport industry has significantly increased over the years, but there is still a lack of constructive initiatives helping them to develop and maintain knowledge and skills to operate in a very dynamic and international transfer market.
The programme aims to fill this gap, and is staffed by some of the industry’s most experienced legal practitioners and serving professionals.
Alongside the academic team from Loughborough, also including Professor Chris Harwood, and Dr Elisavet Manoli, Barrister Nick De Marco QC of Blackstone Chambers, Mel Stein of Clintons and the President of the AFA, Daniel Geey of Sheridans, William McAuliffe of Levy Kauffman-Kohler are all the part of programme teaching roster.
The AFA Chairman Mike Miller said:
We are very pleased that an education course is offered now for our members. We have been advocating for a better regulatory framework of agents in football with an element of continuous education.
Mike Miller, Chairman of the AFA
There are no formal academic prerequisites for the programme, however, some business experience and numerical proficiency are recommended.
Further information about the course including guidance on the application process can be found here.
View the press release on the Loughborough University website for further information and resources.