Brussels, 26/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - International player transfers and reform of the players' agents system were at the centre of discussions at a roundtable organised by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) last week, with the aim of providing information regarding recent activities and projects linked to the European Union. The legal director of FIFA, Marco Villiger, spoke of the advantages of the Transfer Matching System (TMS) set in place by FIFA in October 2010, which obliges all international transfers of footballers to be carried out by means of an online notification. This application allows clubs to carry out a transfer very quickly and automatically to issue an international transfer certificate, once the data have been encoded. Villiger laid emphasis on the success of this initiative, which has so far allowed 10,500 transfers to be carried out for a total of 2.7 billion dollars. FIFA also discussed plans for an in-depth reform of its players' agent system. The Federation is proposing to bring together under the title of “intermediary” anybody negotiating a transfer on behalf of a footballer. Currently, only 25 to 30% of international transfers are handled by licensed agents, the rest carried out by parents, lawyers or unlicensed agents. This reform aims to clarify the situation, for example by obliging the parties to declare any conflict of interests. The intermediaries would also have to register with national associations and make their pay public. The project also proposes to set an upper limit on sums the intermediary may receive in the framework of negotiations. This initiative responds to a number of concerns expressed by the European Commission regarding sports. In its communication of 18 January, it recommended that the activities of players' agents and intermediaries be monitored closely to avoid any abuse. As for international transfers, the Commission recommended guidelines to avoid conflicts with European rules in matters relating to the free movement of people. (IL/transl.fl)