Tighter Regulations

Last updated : 21 November 2007 By Ed
From the Mirror

Sir Alex Ferguson has called for tighter controls on agents to stop them taking so much money out of football.

The Manchester United boss believes their greed is damaging football.

"Agents need to be regulated in a far stricter way than they have been in the past. They are a very lucky breed because as long as you have greedy club presidents, agents will always be in the driving seat."

United became the first top-flight club to make public their payments to agents, which included a £1.5million payment to Paul Stretford's Proactive agency for purchase of Wayne Rooney in 2004.

Fergie believes agents must be called to account for the high fees they charge for simply representing their clients during transfer deals and contract renegotiations.

"Agents have come to us many times before and they give you a transfer fee that they want," said Fergie. "You say to yourself: 'Where did that come from?' It's not directly linked to anything - and the figure is in millions."