DENMARK Trends and Developments Contributed by: Frederik Bruhn, Tim Krarup Nielsen, Robert Jønsson and Rasmus Theis Madsen, DAHL Law Firm
• are subject to bankruptcy quarantine or have a significant and extensive history of bank - ruptcies; • conduct business activities in countries with high rankings on indices related to corruption, money laundering, or terrorist financing; • have significant influence in a betting com - pany; • own a football agency business or are regis - tered as a football agent; and/or • are ultimately controlled by nation states. In a recent matter, a potential acquisition of Vejle Boldklub did not materialise as the potential new shareholder allegedly failed to meet the docu - mentation requirements in the Circular, including proof of financial transparency. Regulatory Framework for Agents The role of football agents has evolved signifi - cantly in recent years, prompting FIFA to intro - duce stricter regulations aimed at increasing transparency and ensuring fair representation of players. FIFA’s Football Agent Regulations (FFAR), which came into effect in January 2023, establish rules on agent licensing, commission structures, and contractual obligations. These reforms seek to address concerns about finan - cial exploitation and conflicts of interest in player transfers. Under the new FIFA regulations, all agents oper - ating in international transfers must obtain a FIFA agent licence. However, key provisions of FFAR have been sus - pended worldwide by FIFA, as the latter awaits the ECJ’s ruling on their compatibility with EU competition law. In Denmark, the Danish Football Association (DBU) implemented FFAR through Circular No.
125, thereby extending FFAR’s provisions to national transfers in Denmark. However, in line with the recommendations from FIFA, DBU has announced a temporary suspension of the most significant parts of the circular concerning foot - ball agents. However, it is worth noting that only FIFA-licensed agents are allowed to operate in the Danish market. Ownership of Player Rights: Agent v Agency A key legal distinction in player representation concerns whether the football agent personally owns the rights to represent the player (ie, the representation agreement), or if the rights belong to the agency from which the agent operates or is employed. Under general Danish law, the employer or the company owns the customers and the contracts and not the individuals pro - viding services to the customers (players/clubs), irrespective of whether the customer contracts may be signed by the employee. When it comes to the agencies and agents in the sports indus - try, the legal position may be different, in par - ticular in football. FIFA regulations do not explicitly determine whether an agency can retain representation rights over players when an agent departs from the agency. However, due to the structure and the personal element of representation agree - ments, it must be concluded that the contractual rights to represent a player most likely belong to the individual agent rather than the agency. This principle can, however, be contractually deviated from. Under Danish football law, it is possible to agree that an agency retains the right to represent players even if an agent leaves, provided that the players have been informed of this arrangement in advance, and that it is expressly stipulated in the employment agree - ment between the agent and the agency. This
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