FIFA Ethical Recruitment Guide
The FIFA Ethical Recruitment Guide provides the essential guidelines to ensure ethical and responsible recruitment in soccer. This practical guide helps prevent abuse and exploitative practices by clarifying risks, best practices, and expected behaviors in order to protect players, promote transparency, and strengthen integrity in recruitment processes.
Last updated: 01/23/2026 Try for FREE
What is the FIFA ethical recruitment guide?
The FIFA ethical recruitment guide is an official document that now forms part of the educational material for the FIFA agent exam. As its name suggests, this guide was designed to support player agents in managing conflicts and disputes related to recruitment, especially when transactions involve minor players.
With the implementation of this document into the educational material, FIFA’s goal is to ensure that an agent should not only seek athletic performance or profitability in their clients. They must act as a guarantor of the player's rights and contribute to the proper functioning of FIFA’s regulatory framework.
Ethical recruitment is not just a responsibility – it’s your superpower. - FIFA
What is included in the FIFA ethical recruitment guide?
The FIFA ethical recruitment guide serves as a reference to ensure a recruitment process aligned with the regulatory framework imposed by FIFA, especially when minors are involved. This document supports sports agents during player recruitment to ensure a professional and transparent conduct.
The FIFA ethical recruitment guide is structured as a comprehensive educational document, organized into several modules and annexes. It includes the following:
- Introduction: presentation of the guide, its objectives and methodology
- Unit 1: Introduction to ethical recruitment in football
- Unit 2: Legal frameworks and regulations for ethical recruitment
- Unit 3: Ethical principles in recruitment
- Unit 4: Best practices for recruitment
- Checklist 1: Ethical decision-making framework
- Checklist 2: Ethical recruitment checklist
- Annex 1: FIFA football agent code of conduct
- Annex 2: FIFA football agents ethical communications guide
What you need to know before reading the FIFA ethical recruitment guide
Before diving fully into the content of the FIFA ethical recruitment guide, it is useful to understand one key concept. Ethics in soccer is a daily reality.
The document initially explains that a FIFA-licensed agent influences a player’s career trajectory, especially when the player is young. It is a form of real and comprehensive support during the most decisive years of a career.
A distinction is also highlighted between two types of ethics:
- Personal ethics: refers to a person’s values, beliefs, and culture
- Professional ethics: refers to FIFA regulations, national laws, and the expectations of the FIFA agent profession
Unethical recruitment does not only endanger the player but also the agent. This type of practice can harm the reputation of an agent or even expose them to legal or disciplinary consequences.
Important information regarding the FIFA ethical recruitment guide
The guide particularly highlights the real risks observed in unethical recruitment situations.
FIFA points out in this document numerous fraudulent and abusive practices in a recruitment process, including:
- Misrepresentation
- Misleading contracts
- Unjustified advance payments
- Poaching via financial incentives
- Bribery and corruption
- Conflicts of interest
- Financial exploitation
- Human trafficking
The FIFA ethical recruitment guide cites a study conducted by FIFPRO (2023). This study indicates that over 70% of the players surveyed were contacted by someone claiming to be an agent, and a significant portion received unfulfilled promises (trials, contracts).
FIFA ethical recruitment guide: preparing for the FIFA exam
Mastering this document while preparing for the FIFA agent exam is a real asset, as it strengthens the core fundamentals expected during the test.
Here’s how the FIFA ethical recruitment guide connects to exam preparation:
- Understanding the risks and drifts of recruitment: the guide details unethical practices and their consequences on both players and the agent's reputation.
- Protection of minors: FIFA makes it a top priority and emphasizes that agents must act as protectors for their minor clients.
- Transparency and honesty in communications: the exam involves knowing how to adopt a professional posture, whether in discussions with clients or with sports directors.
- Mastery of the FIFA regulatory framework: the document reminds agents that they must comply with a dual framework, the FIFA Football Agent Regulations and national laws.
Additional resources beyond the FIFA ethical recruitment guide
To prepare for the agent exam, the FIFA ethical recruitment guide alone is not enough. Explore other important resources and documents that can help you get ready for the FIFA player agent exam. Articles and explanatory videos can offer additional perspectives.
Moreover, attending a theoretical course can enhance the overall understanding of the subject. To put this knowledge into practice, interactive questions allow you to test your knowledge. Finally, to assess your level under conditions close to the official exam, SportsAgent Institute also allows you to train with mock exams.
Download the FIFA ethical recruitment guide PDF
Thorough preparation for the FIFA agent exam requires a deep understanding of the FIFA ethical recruitment guide, as previously discussed.
To download the FIFA ethical recruitment guide PDF: FIFA ethical recruitment guide
Study materials for the FIFA agent exam
The FIFA ethical recruitment guide is an essential document, but it must be accompanied by all the other topics and circulars included in the study materials for the FIFA agent exam.
FIFA ethical recruitment guide, in summary
The FIFA ethical recruitment guide is an essential resource aimed at helping player agents adopt responsible, transparent practices in line with international standards. Designed to address disputes encountered in the field, this document emphasizes one fundamental point: the protection of young players, especially minors, in order to prevent abuse, exploitation, and unethical recruitment practices.
By studying the FIFA ethical recruitment guide, current and future agents can better understand the expectations for a licensed professional, strengthen their credibility, and act with integrity in all their dealings. It is also an essential support for anyone preparing for the FIFA agent exam, as it helps master the key principles of modern recruitment: transparency, fairness, and respect for the regulatory framework.