MINO RAIOLA is determined to crush Fifa and create his own football governing body amid a crackdown on the mega fees earned by super-agents.
In joining forces with the likes of Jorge Mendes, who represents Cristiano Ronaldo, and Gareth Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett, Raiola wants to defend the reputation of a “criminalised” profession.
Raiola is putting his long-standing criticism of Fifa into actionCredit: Getty – Contributor
Fifa boss Infantino is aiming to cut the fees earned by agents from transfersCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Fifa banned the Italian-born 52-year-old from worldwide football for three months last year but had the suspension overturned on appeal.
Exactly what misdemeanour he and cousin Vincenzo were alleged to have done was never disclosed but it was far from his first run-in with the governing body.
A long-term critic of Fifa, Raiola began a campaign to stand against disgraced former chief Sepp Blatter five years ago having branded him a “demented dictator” before the Swiss leader’s credibility crumbled.
But this new fight comes amid plans to implement a 10 per cent cap on agent fees in all transfers, which would severely reduce the earnings of the game’s top agents.
Raiola told the Telegraph: “I wanted to bring down Fifa before the cap. I fought Fifa before.
“I said Fifa was a monopoly and I fought Fifa because they banned me from the game without any explanation.
“I was ‘Raiola with the big mouth’. I’ve not seen anyone say, ‘Hey, he was right about Blatter’.
“But they only changed the front man. Do I want to be governed by them? No. I want to be governed by my own group. I want to sit down with clubs and say, ‘What’s the problem?’.
I understand that you think I make a lot of money and you have it right.
Mino Raiola
“There is no trust anymore. It’s like being judged by the North Korean society. It’s not my fault [FIFA] lost credibility in the world.
“I am only saying give me a second system and then I am free to choose and then someone can say, ‘Hey, Mino you should shut up. You chose Fifa’. But today I cannot choose. There is only Fifa.”
An unpopular character for many in the game, Raiola’s vision of an alternative to Fifa will meet heavy opposition, not least given the efforts to clean up their image by current president Giannni Infantino – a man the agent dubs a “post office manager” in another life.
Thus he is creating a battleground between the game’s wealthiest and most influential people.
On the one hand are Fifa, on the other are the Football Agents Forum that Raiola founded and chairs.
As the representative of Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland and many more top stars, he claims to have their best interests at heart.
Raiola continued: “We have been criminalised by Fifa.
“I understand that you think I make a lot of money and you have it right.
“I have been lucky to have been in a world that has grown exponentially with myself. It was a sport but today it’s an industry.
“But it’s not right to say I make too much money. Too much would say there is no equilibrium anymore.
“I make a lot of money but Lewis Hamilton also makes a lot of money because Formula One generates a lot of money.
“The players make money out of the game but it is they who generate the money.
“They don’t get money for doing nothing and I represent them.”
Mino Raiola to refuse to deal with ‘out of touch’ Man United as they’d ‘ruin Maradona, Pele and Maldini’
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
