The bad practice of certain football agents has come to the fore after former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder George Lebese revealed that he was duped to join Mamelodi Sundowns by his agent.
Lebese made a shock switch to rivals Sundowns in August 2017 after he declined to renew his contract with Chiefs, where he had spent nine years.
However, things did not go according to plan at the Brazilians for the left-footed attacker, after he made only 16 appearances in one-and-half years and was loaned out to SuperSport United in January 2019, before he eventually parted ways with the Tshwane giants in June 2019.
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The Mamelodi native winger has revealed that his move to Sundowns was influenced by his agent, who was paid by the Brazilians to influence him not to renew his contract with Amakhosi.
"Sundowns salary was not crazy, Chiefs was crazier. There were a lot of influences at that time, it was during coach Steve [Komphela]'s time; and I was not playing much and I was at the peak of my career, where I should be playing, but for some reason I was not playing," Lebese opened up, speaking to Josta Dladla on his Izinja zeGame YouTube Channel.
"Why did I leave? I was up for renewal and Bobby [Motaung] called me, the numbers (offer) exceeded what I wanted to ask. My agent was paid [by Sundowns], 'Get us this guy'. How he (agent) went about it is he didn't have (my) best interests (at heart).
"I looked at the other side and I'm like, 'Hey, I can win trophies with these players', they had just won the African tournament [CAF Champions League], I wanted to be part of that special group. They (Sundowns) gave me an offer, it was less than what Chiefs offered, probably half. It was an improvement to what I was earning but it did not match what Chiefs were offering for me to extend. I thought I'd play but my agent was supposed to be realistic with me," the 35-year-old revealed.
One of the leading agents in South Africa, Mike Makaab recently touched on the issue of double-dipping and believes agents should be transparent.
"One thing I hold in serious light and agents should not be allowed to do that is double-dipping. It should never be allowed," Makaab said on Mike Morton Talks Football YouTube Channel.
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"The only time you're allowed to earn from both sides [the club and the player] is if you engage with the football club on behalf of the player but again there's limits.
"When I'm negotiating with a football club on your behalf, you should be aware of the percentage I'm charging, it's a transparency I believe should exist. That's what I believe agents are wrong when a player is not aware of what they are earning and they earn more than what is allowed by FIFA regulations," the former Orlando Pirates coach added.
