FIFA: $653.9m (€590m) paid to intermediaries during international transfers in 2019 (+19.3%)

"Spending on commissions paid to intermediaries has increased to $653.9m to date in 2019 (01/01 to 01/12/2019), which is already 19.3% more than during the whole of 2018. Over 80% of all intermediary commissions worldwide was paid by clubs from Italy, England, Germany, Portugal, Spain and France combined," said FIFA in the 2019 edition of its "Intermediaries in International Transfers" report (document available to download), published on 04/12/2019.

The fourth edition of this report provides a detailed study of the activities of intermediaries in the context of international transfers recorded via ITMS during the year 2019. In 2019, of the 17,896 transactions recorded, 3,558 involved at least one intermediary, or 19.9%. When concluding a transfer, an intermediary may represent the player (2,657 cases in 2019), the buying club (1,307 cases) or the selling club (395 cases), with certain transfers involving several intermediaries representing two or all three stakeholders involved. In total, 490 clubs and 2,490 different players were represented at least once by an intermediary…