Prospective agents complain about faulty exam process as applicants beset by software problems and lost time on 18 June.
Would-be prospective agents complain Fifa’s faulty online exam causes one-year delay.
Candidates have been told they will have to wait a full year for their next chance after technical issues with FIFA’s online football agent exam prevented them from finishing it.
Candidates must now answer 20 multiple-choice questions online instead of taking an in-person test, typically at the headquarters of their national federation, due to new laws on agents that were implemented at the beginning of this year. Candidates now pay $100 (or the equivalent in pounds or euros) to appear for the annual exam, which was first held on June 18th. It is believed that Fifa made this adjustment to give consistency over the pricing.
Candidates from a number of nations, including the UK, have expressed dissatisfaction about technical issues that prevented them from finishing the one-hour test. It is understood that prior to the test, candidates were requested to download software, which an online invigilator subsequently verified. However, because to software bugs, students frequently ran out of time to complete the questions or discovered that some of their responses had not been recorded.
“I attempted several times to fix the issue by disconnecting and reconnecting, but it took over 25 minutes before the connection was restored,” wrote one candidate from Niger in a letter to Fifa.
“Once I was allowed to resume, there were only about 10 minutes remaining on the exam. On July 3, 2025, I received my results and was surprised to see that I had failed with a score of 11 out of 20. However, among the nine questions marked as incorrect, seven were shown as blank, even though I clearly remember answering them before submission, one displayed a choice that I am certain I never selected, and it does not match the answer I intended to choose.”
“I attempted several times to fix the issue by disconnecting and reconnecting, but it took over 25 minutes before the connection was restored,” wrote one candidate from Niger in a letter to Fifa.
“Once I was allowed to resume, there were only about 10 minutes remaining on the exam. On July 3, 2025, I received my results and was surprised to see that I had failed with a score of 11 out of 20. However, among the nine questions marked as incorrect, seven were shown as blank, even though I clearly remember answering them before submission, one displayed a choice that I am certain I never selected, and it does not match the answer I intended to choose.”
Another candidate from the UK said he had been told by his invigilator that “the issue was not related to my device or internet connection, but rather to the platform itself. After several unsuccessful attempts, the invigilator advised me to disconnect and assured me that she would submit a detailed report to Fifa, explicitly stating that I had been unable to participate due to a force majeure situation, as defined in article 12 of the Fifa football agent exam rules (March 2025 edition). It is particularly frustrating to now see my application rejected without any clarification, despite having fulfilled all requirements, acted diligently, and paid the full registration fee.”