Perspective
Player advisory in women's football — substance over speed.
As women's football grows commercially, a new generation of agents is pushing into the market. Some bring substance, others mostly speed. This page sets out what serious advisory work for players should look like — and where the risks lie. Substance over speed: that is the standard we apply.
Why this piece
The magazine 11FREUNDE examined the advisor scene in women's football in its print issue 288/2025 ("Risikogruppe Spielerinnenberater: Die Haie sind wach" — "At-risk group: women's-football agents — the sharks are awake"). We share many of the concerns raised there — and we are convinced that Henner Janzen's approach is deliberately different. Read the 11FREUNDE article (German).
What is changing
Higher salaries, international transfers, new media rights: in just a few years women's football has become a serious market. Commission volumes and incentives are rising — and with them the appetite of agencies that have previously operated only in the men's game, or that lack a real track record in either.
Where it goes wrong
Short-term commission beats career
When the next transfer is the agency's main source of income, stability, playing time and life planning fade into the background.
Asymmetric experience
Young players often negotiate their first professional contract — against club lawyers with decades of routine.
Lack of oversight
Current FIFA rules only partially protect players from dual representation, opaque commissions and conflicts of interest.
The person becomes an asset
Once a client is reduced to an "asset", topics such as mental health, injury breaks, family planning or life after the career disappear from the conversation.
What Henner Janzen stands for
For more than two decades Henner Janzen has accompanied professional athletes — with a clear focus on women's football — as well as coaches and sporting directors. As a lawyer and long-standing FIFA agent he knows club structures, contracts and market mechanisms first-hand. His mandates typically grow over many years.
Sports Leadership Coaching: advisory meets systemic coaching
In Sports Leadership Coaching, Henner Janzen combines his experience in international elite football with Dr. Thomas Knoop's systemic executive coaching. The offering is aimed at coaches, sporting directors and leaders in professional sport — as a protected space for reflection outside of club interests.