Plans are in the pipeline to shake up how agents operate in the League of Ireland.
PFA Ireland are in talks with world players’ body FIFPRO about introducing a ‘standard agents contract’ into Irish football by the summer.
While it won’t be compulsory for players to use, it will be a template for players to know what to expect from a partnership with an agent.
PFA Ireland chief Stephen McGuinness wants to see the initiative over the line ahead of the summer transfer window.
He said: "There’s no platform out there for players to understand what they should be looking for in an agent's contract.
“You can give anecdotal advice to people, but there’s no standard agent contract anywhere in the world.
"An agent can put whatever they like in front of a player. There are no guidelines or rules and it has mushroomed on the back of Brexit.
"Any young player who can kick a ball straight has an agent now from the age of 15. I had a parent the other day with a 12-year-old, which is just incredible.
“But there are no guidelines. What FIFPRO is trying to do is come up with a document that helps and assists players.
"We have a Standard Player Contract, so why shouldn't we have a Standard Agent Contract?
“If the agent gives them something else, the player can choose to say ‘no, this is what the players’ union says should be part of any agreement'.”
And McGuinness continued: "It's not compulsory and a player may be happy with what the agent is looking for, and that's fine.
"But we've an obligation to male and female players who have no idea what an agent's contract should look like.
"A lot of parents of young players don't have a clue what they’re agreeing to when they sign their first professional contracts.”
The PFA Ireland represented players themselves in the past but McGuinness said the venture didn’t work.
He added: “In my early days, our association was on its knees financially and the only way we could bring in revenue was to represent players.
“We put a lot of work into it, tried it and it just didn't work.
“But at the moment, we’re dealing with agent issues more than we’re dealing with player issues and it’s a problem.”
