Agent fined £12,000 by Fifa for dual role in Earnshaw move.
By: David Conn (Guardian UK).[/size]
The agent Mel Eves has been fined 30,000 swiss francs (£12,250) by Fifa after being found guilty of acting for both the club and player when one of his clients, the striker Robert Earnshaw, moved from Cardiff City to West Bromwich Albion in August 2004.
The game's world governing body ruled it was "undeniable" that Eves represented, and was paid by, Albion and Earnshaw on the deal, and so breached the regulation that an agent may act for only one party.
Eves said yesterday that he will appeal, citing "inconsistencies", and it is clear from the judgment that Eves was found guilty partly because he signed West Bromwich's standard agreement of the time. That contract, which the club said was approved by the FA and Premier League, provided that both the club and player would pay the agent.
Earnshaw's £3m move to Albion, who were then in the Premiership, was subject to an investigation, first by the FA, then Fifa, since October 2004 when Earnshaw complained to the FA that he did not know which agents had been paid and how much they received. Eves said then he was unhappy he was made to negotiate the deal not with the club's chairman, Jeremy Peace, but with another agent, Mark Curtis, who was retained at the time by West Bromwich Albion.
The FA referred the case to Fifa in May 2005 because a transfer between a Welsh and English club is international according to football's administrative system. At the time, the FA told Albion there were "no allegations of misconduct against the club". More than two years later, Fifa's judgment finally sets out what happened. After negotiating and concluding the deal with Curtis, Eves signed West Brom's contract. It provided that Eves had acted partly for the club and partly for Earnshaw, and for each year of the contract Eves would be paid £10,000 by the club and £10,000 out of Earnshaw's salary.
Such "dual payments" were common at the time. West Bromwich and the English football authorities believed this contract did not contravene Fifa's regulations but the judgment makes it clear it did. "The contract of August 29 2004 between Mel Eves and West Bromwich Albion provides for payment to be made, split 50%, by West Bromwich Albion and Robert Earnshaw," it says, "in contravention of Article 12 (3) of the Fifa Agents' Regulations."
In December 2004 Earnshaw paid Eves an additional £5,000. Fifa cited that, too, as evidence that Eves was paid by the player and the club. Eves said of the judgment: "I am consulting my solicitor with a view to appealing as there are many inconsistencies in its conclusions."
A source at the FA acknowledged the case highlighted "grey areas" in players' transfers and said the new agents' regulations are aimed at clarifying the rules.
