Brighton and Hove Albion are facing an investigation by the Football Association into their use of agents in regards to football transfer transactions.
According to reports, they have been charged with a number of breaches regarding the fair use and regulation surrounding football agents, spanning a total period of three years from January 2015 up to January 2018.
According to the team, these incidents of non-compliance to the rules is due to what they call ‘a number of historical administrative errors’ that had only been discovered following the process of an internal review in 2019.
They are believed to be co-operating openly and transparently with the FA, football’s governing body to assist and support the investigation so that they conclude and move forward from this matter.
Due to the issuing of these charges to the club, Brighton and Hove Albion have until the 17th of August to respond to the offences before a judgement and subsequent punishment can be issued.
This is not the first incident involving Brighton and their inability to comply with regulation, having faced previous scrutiny over the 2015 transfer of midfielder Dale Stephens.
In that circumstance, the club were found to have breached agent regulations and fined £90,000 with warnings over their future conduct as multiple breaches can lead to transfer bans for a determined period of time.
This incident involved the non-payment of owed commissions, misrepresentation in regards to the reality of the transaction and the lack of completed official documents due to the agents involved having not all been officially recorded on all documentation.
It is not believed that this matter would result in an actual transfer ban, however there could be a very thin margin laid down by the Football Association which would automatically trigger such sanctions should further issues regarding the use of agents occur in the future.
Photo Credit: Jim Reardan
