By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
Several EuroLeague players’ agencies have come together Friday to make an official request to EuroLeague Basketball and EuroLeague Players Association (ELPA) to be involved in the negotiations of the new regulations.
The agencies in question are Beobasket, Octagon, Wasserman, U1st, BSA Agency Europe, SigmaSports, and Network Sports, which currently represent about 80% of the players in the EuroLeague.
The request comes after a historic collective agreement between the EuroLeague and ELPA which will last for three EuroLeague seasons.
There’s a number of issues in which the side of the agents believes that the framework gives a lot of flexibility to the clubs and not to the players. And among other topics, there has been an update to the payment of the agents’ fees, with players being responsible for the payouts as of July 23. The usual modus operandi in Europe remains that clubs are paying agents’ fees and not the players.
“In accordance with the EFA, any agent fee related specifically to the provision of services towards a player will have to be paid by the player. However, this provision will not apply for existing club-player contracts in place prior to the entry into force of the present EFA which may provide for different payment terms”, per the ELPA.
So far, these updates are not used in major contracts, while in most cases there are some provisions in contracts signed. EuroLeague and the ELPA have yet to react to the request.
Photo: EuroLeague