Football agents: profile, admission and training path

Abstract

Given this scenario, such professionals need to seek comprehensive training and continuous updates in different areas, aiming at a broad understanding of their profession, with the aim of contributing to the career development of the football athlete. Therefore, the general objective of this study was to analyze the profile, entry and trajectory of football agents responsible for managing the careers of professional athletes. This qualitative, cross-sectional, exploratory and descriptive research had ten football agents as study participants, regularized with the Brazilian Football Confederation and with at least three years of registration. To this end, a semi-structured interview was carried out, in which all ethical precepts were respected. The results indicate that the average age of the agents interviewed is forty years old and the average experience is ten years. All interviewees admit that they had influences when entering the career and had previous experience in other areas of the modality or in other branches before entering the role. Football agents declared academic training in eight degrees and only four interviewees mentioned taking additional training courses in the area. It was understood that there is no single training path to be followed to become a football agent, however, the complementary training carried out and, above all, the experiences experienced throughout the profession, together with the networking acquired, may dictate the professional trajectory. These findings will contribute to understanding the relationships between football agents and professional football athletes and will help others involved and football clubs with career management in the sport, contributing indirectly to the sports field.