From 1er January 2022, less than six months before the end of his contract with Paris-Saint-Germain, Kylian Mbappé will be free to sign up with the club of his choice. In the negotiations he will have to lead, the young footballer (23), who does not have an agent to manage his career, should rely on Mr.e Delphine Verheyden.
This sports law lawyer, with the status of sports attorney (AMS), works alongside the Bondynois for everything relating to image rights or to verify, or even negotiate, clauses during a possible transfer of his client.
But will Kylian Mbappé be able to continue to do without an agent? The “services” provided by his lawyer could well be called into question by a recent decision of the Paris Court of Appeal.
On October 14, the latter canceled a deliberation by the Paris Bar dated June 2, 2020, which introduced a new article in its internal regulations to allow sports attorneys “To put in contact, against remuneration, the parties interested in the conclusion of a contract”. In other words, to authorize them to exercise the activity of an agent.
The decision of the Court of Appeal is an important step in the battle that has been waged for years between these two worlds, AMS and players’ agents. The emergence of the former was perceived as unfair competition by the latter.
It all started with the law of March 28, 2011, which recorded the birth of these sports representatives authorized to perform a concurrent function with that of sports agents. This activity must be secondary and you must first register with your bar on a list of “sports representatives” before being able to work with a player, a coach or a club.
Strict rules
Like Kylian Mbappé, more and more players are only enlisting the services of a lawyer to negotiate their contracts. “Great players don’t need an agent. Depending on the career level, and the period, we are more inclined to have an agent and / or a lawyer ”, emphasizes Jim Michel-Gabriel, president of the Association of sports attorneys lawyers (Adams).
The text of the 2011 law is however clear: the lawyer does not play any role of intermediation or canvassing with clubs, the preserve of the agent, whose profession is supervised. by article L.222-7 of the Sport code, stipulating that the possession of a license is a mandatory condition to be able to practice.
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