Players' agents: DFB regulations "may fall within an exception to the prohibition on cartels" (CJEU)

"The regulations of the German Football Association (DFB) on the activity of players’ agents may fall within an exception to the prohibition on cartels," the Court of Justice of the European Union announced in a ruling handed down on 9 July 2026 concerning case C-428/23 ROGON and Others, which pits the German agency against the Deutscher Fussball Bund eV.

In 2015, the DFB adopted regulations on the activities of players’ agents, governing the use by players and clubs of the services of an agent for the purpose of concluding professional player contracts and transfer agreements. Among other things, these regulations require agents to register and make them subject to various FIFA, DFB and DFL statutes, regulations and rules. Rogon is challenging those regulations before the German courts…