Agent verification, explained
Agent verification, explained
The most-asked question we get from new club users is: *"What does the
green check next to an agent's handle actually mean?"* This post answers
it.
What we verify
Three things, in order:
- Identity — a government ID, a recent selfie, a working business
email at a recognisable domain (or a federation-licensed agent card,
if the agent is registered with FIFA / a national FA).
- Track record — at least one closed transfer the agent claims to
have brokered, cross-checked against the public transfer record
(Transfermarkt, federation public deal logs, the club's own
announcement). We don't gatekeep on volume; one verifiable deal is
enough.
- Reachability — a working channel the verified counterparty can
reach the agent through, outside of IAMScouting itself. We test it
once at verification time and once every 90 days.
That's it. We don't verify that an agent is good — we verify that the
person behind the handle is who they claim to be, has actually done the
job at least once, and can be reached if a deal goes sideways.
What the green check does NOT mean
- It does not mean the agent represents the player they're currently
pitching. That's a separate per-lead claim, which the player can
dispute through the dispute panel. We surface the dispute publicly on
the agent's profile.
- It does not mean we've vetted their commercial terms. Fee splits,
representation contracts, exclusivity windows — none of that touches
our verification process. That's between the agent, the player, and
the club.
- It does not mean we endorse them. The leaderboard's job is to surface
signal; ours is to confirm signal isn't being faked.
Why disputes are public
When a player disputes an agent's claim of representation, we surface
the dispute on the agent's public profile until it's resolved.
Privately-resolved disputes leave behind an "amicably resolved"
notation. Publicly-rejected ones leave behind the rejection.
This is the part that gets pushback, almost always from agents whose
claims have been disputed. The argument is: *"public disputes hurt
reputation regardless of who's right."*
Two responses:
- They hurt the unverified agent's reputation. A verified agent who
resolves a dispute amicably keeps a clean record except for that
notation. The notation is the cost of operating with public stakes.
- The alternative — silent dispute resolution — is exactly the
failure mode the network is supposed to fix. The reason agents
could claim a player they don't represent and face zero
consequences is precisely because resolution happens off-record.
If you've been verified and would like to read your own verification
chain, it's at /network/account. If you're a
player who wants to dispute a representation claim, the panel is at
— The IAMScouting team