? Mr. Schmäschke, first of all congratulations for your new job as President of SG Flensburg. On your first day in office the new ‚IHF Regulations on Transfers’ come into effect. Which consequences will this have on the business of the clubs?
Thanks for the flowers. As you mention it I would like to convey my best wishes to my successor, Holger Glandorf.
It is easy to describe the consequences for the clubs: If an agent represents the interests of a player, the player has to pay the agent! That’s it!
? Sounds logical. What is the big change?
The players will face a change. In the past as a rule the players did not reimburse their agents. According to the new IHF regulations this will be differently in the future: Agent and player will have to agree which amount is paid from the player to the agent. This is freely negotiable and it has to be negotiated. It is important whether the commission of a 3-years-contract is the same in the 2nd and in the 3rd year as it is in the 1st year. Is the commission of the agent based on the net or on the gross salary of the player? What about commission on bonuses? What about the duration of the agreement? Is the agreement limited to a certain league, ie ASOBA or 1st Denish League? What exactly are the services of the agent? What happens, if the agent does not provide a reasonable offer for the player?
In the future the player should consult a lawyer before signing a contract with an agent. In the past these agreements were concluded more or less ‘pro forma’ …
? This means that the player himself has to negotiate with his agent?
Yes, true. Roughly speaking, in the past, the club used to pay 90% to the player and 10% to the agent. In the future the player will receive 100%, but he will have to pay for the services of his agent. So at the end of the season he might end up with more – or less net revenues.
? The new system will cause more tax payments!?
Also true. But there will be no changes for the clubs. Before the new regulations came into effect, we used to have 100% of money for player and agent. We will have exactly the same 100% also in the future. If the government increases the taxes, or if an insurance company increase a fee, we as a club do not have automatically 105% budget for the player – just because the insurance increased the fee.
Nothing is changing for the clubs. We used to have 100% for the player and we will have 100% for the player in the future. I a clubs spends all over sudden 105% on a player, the club has a different problem.
? Understood. Remains the question concerning the Players‘ Agent.
The Agents do not like the new regulation. They will be in direct competition in the future which was not the case in the past. In the past usually the agents did not charge their players. In the future there will be different percentages of commission. The players will start to compare the services of the agents.
The agents founded an organization in order to avoid the new regulation. Our Managing Director of Forum Club Handball, Gerd Butzeck, met twice with the representatives of that organization for longer consultations and explained the situation.
There will be no big changes for the quality agents. Nobody denies the necessity of agents. They will continue earning good money in the future. They simply invoice the player – as of now.
At the moment some agents try to create confusion amongst the clubs. They claim that the one or the other club will continue to pay the agents. I saw according messages which were send to us confidentially. The big clubs agreed to act according to the new regulations and I am sure that they will do so.
It will take a while, until everybody understood the new system. FC Barcelona started to apply this system already 4 years ago in Football, Basketball and Handball. More or less they were forced to change it from the tax authorities. The authorities stopped acknowledging the invoices of agents as expenses of FC Barcelona, as the agents are providing services to the players – and not to the club.
? How does the system work in other sports?
Generally speaking, in Football it is more or less the same as it used to be in Handball. The excesses are well known to every sports fan. There are endeavors from German top clubs, to copy our model. In Football the system is more complex. Transfer compensations play a bigger role and cause more discussions.
In Basketball FIBA applies the same system as we do now already as of 1.1.22, in the Swiss Hockey League even as of 1.7.21. So actually the whole story is not new and not a surprise.
In America all players always paid their agents. No question about that! The Americans are shaking their heads when they get to know about our European system!
? And what to expect now for the future?
We have no choice. The regulation is approved and will come into force on 1.7.22. The vast majority of the clubs will apply the regulation, some will try to trick around. But they make themselves dependend/blackmailable on players and agents. We as SG Flensburg will not do that, as we respect the regulations and we believe them to be reasonable.
At the moment it does not concern anybody, as almost all players already signed a contract for next season. Only the new contracts are concerned which will be signed as of now …
? Thank you for the conversation.