5 multiple-choice traps of the FIFA agent exam, and how to avoid them

In the FIFA agent exam, you rarely lose points on what you have never seen. You lose them on what you thought you knew: a deadline shifted by two weeks, one chamber taken for another, an "unless" read too fast. Here are the five families of traps, with examples taken from the FIFA regulations, and the reflexes that keep you out of them.

Why traps matter so much here

With 20 questions and 75% needed, five mistakes are the most you can afford. And the format adds its own difficulty: according to FIFA's circular no. 1827, a question can have one or several correct answers. Almost every error falls into one of five families.

Trap 1: stopping at the first right answer

When several answers can be correct, ticking the first good option and moving on is the most expensive habit. Read each option as a separate true-or-false statement, then decide.

Example: can an agent act for both the player and the engaging club in the same transaction? Yes, but only with the prior explicit written consent of both clients (art. 12.8 a). An option that leaves out "prior" or "written" is wrong, even if the rest is right.

Trap 2: look-alike deadlines

The texts are full of deadlines that sound alike. The trap gives you the right number, but for another obligation, or with another starting point.

• 14 days to upload a representation agreement, a payment or an agreement between agents to the Platform; 30 days for changes to your agency's information (agent regulations, art. 16.2 j and k).
• 90 days to pay the fee after passing the exam (art. 7.3); 60 days to fix a suspension before the licence is withdrawn (art. 17.4).
• 10 calendar days to request the grounds of a Football Tribunal decision (Procedural Rules, art. 15.5); 21 days to go to CAS (Statutes, art. 50).
• 30 days before a professional can re-register as an amateur; 30 months for the training compensation that follows a return to professional status (RSTP, art. 3).

Trap 3: bodies that look alike

Same family of confusion: the Football Tribunal is a FIFA body, CAS is an independent court in Lausanne (Statutes, art. 49).

Trap 4: exceptions and absolute words

"Always", "never", "only", "unless": one word changes the answer. The texts are built on principles followed by exceptions, and questions love the exception.

• Who pays the agent? In principle, only the client (art. 14.2). Exception: the engaging entity may pay the agent of an individual whose annual remuneration is below USD 200,000 (art. 14.3).
• Dual representation? Allowed only for the individual and the engaging entity, never with the releasing entity (art. 12.8 and 12.9).
• Approaching a client under exclusive contract with another agent? Only in the final two months of that agreement (art. 16.1 b).
• International transfer of a minor? Not before 18, except in the five cases of RSTP article 19.2.
• Eligibility? Not just when you apply, but at all times once licensed (art. 5.2).

Trap 5: the text, the edition and what applies

Some questions play on what the text says versus what is applied, or on one edition versus another.

• Suspended provisions. FIFA's circular no. 1873 suspended several provisions of the agent regulations worldwide, including the service fee cap of article 15. For the 2026 exam, the study materials stated that the suspended provisions would not feature in the exam. Check what the 2027 materials say.
• Look-alike thresholds. Article 17.1 of the RSTP refers to a remuneration of up to USD 150,000, article 21bis to less than EUR 150,000. Same figure, different currency and comparison.
• The right edition. The exam follows the editions in its study materials: changes published later do not affect it, according to the introduction of those materials.

Five reflexes on exam day

1. Read the question twice and underline who, what deadline, what amount, and the small words: "unless", "at most", "from".
2. Treat each option as true or false, independently of the others.
3. Check the starting point of every deadline, not just its length.
4. Name the text before answering: agent regulations, RSTP, Procedural Rules or Disciplinary Code.
5. Use the book to confirm, in under a minute, then move on.

Traps are learned by falling into them in training, not on the day: that is the logic of our study method. And to see where you stand, try the 20-question mock exam, without signing up.

Sources

• FIFA Football Agent Regulations (PDF)
• Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, January 2027 edition (PDF)
• Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal, January 2027 edition (PDF)
• FIFA Football Agent Exam Study Materials, January 2026, with circulars no. 1827 and 1873 (PDF)

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