[An interview with Mika Lee, a sports management expert, and myself. Photo Credit: Hayden You]

Head Coach Julian Nagelsmann has supposedly banned agents and advisors of German players from interfering with the team at Euro 2024.

The Euro 2024 competition, held every four years, sees the best national soccer teams in Europe play against each other over a period of 4 weeks.

This coincides with the summer transfer window, a time when many high-profile players can negotiate with other clubs and potentially transfer clubs before the start of the new season.

Usually, player agents and representatives are given access to national team headquarters for discussions with their clients, but Nagelsmann decided to lay down some new ground rules.

Speaking to reporters, the coach said, “There are clear rules about who is allowed to enter the home ground and who is not. The advisors are also among the persons who do not enter. All the players know that, the agents know that too.”

It seems that the German coach wanted his players to remain focused on their national team duties, rather than potential transfers.

“Every player is old enough to know when the focus is on the game." He added.

An interview was conducted with Mika Lee, a sports management expert. They aim to shed some light on the role of sports agents, and the ethical considerations involved in athletic representation.

“Top-level athletes often require top-level representatives to act as promoters, negotiators, advisors, and even friends.”

As it’s a high-pressure job, sports agents are often compensated well.

“In most global sports, such as soccer or basketball, agents are paid a commission of their client’s earnings, which could range from 1% to 10%.”

How much an agent earns is therefore highly dependent on the size and length of an athlete’s contract.

Most sports, notably the NFL, offer fairly short contracts for their players, meaning that agents should constantly be looking for better deals for their existing clients or additional clients to supplement their income.

Mika Lee states that this can lead to the first ethical consideration when it comes to athlete representation, which is a conflict of interest.

“Agents with multiple clients may encounter a conflict of interest when two or more clients are vying for a contract.”

“When two clients are competing for the same contract, or the maximum cut of a limited budget, this causes an ethical dilemma for a lot of sports agents.”

This ethical dilemma has had such a resounding impact in sports, especially as it is often permitted and can even increase earnings for agents as two of their clients compete for a better package.

The moral answer to this conflict is for sporting bodies or the law to increase regulation to reduce the amount of conflicting interests.

“A professional can’t work on behalf of two clients when a conflict forces an agent to trade off the prosperity or interests of one client against those of the other,” Lee states.

However, he does go on to say how difficult regulation will be to enforce, especially when agents rely on commission, and therefore multiple clients, to make a living.

Overall, the majority of athlete representatives do have their client’s best interests at heart. However, there is a minority of agents that continue to operate with the knowledge that such ethical and moral issues exist, often driven by greed.

Lee states that in recent years, there has been increased regulation, ensuring better transparency.

However, one issue with this is the further diversification of services, meaning there are more services offered by agents, resulting in more regulations to follow.

It is up to regulatory bodies, player unions, agent associations, and the law itself to come to the most ethical conclusion when dealing with conflict of interests in athlete representation.