Ice Hockey
Lawyer Björn Wagnsson was the first ice hockey counselor and agent in Sweden. Between 1969 – 1994, he represented 100% of the Swedish ice hockey players in the NHL. When he was forced to retire, due to his illness, there was no one within the bureau who could carry on with his duties. Peter Nilsson was at that time chairman of SICO and obviously could not represent both parties. For the period of a few years, the bureau stopped up representing ice hockey players, awaiting Martin Klette, who took on the responsibility.
Player’s first
We believe that there are plenty of advantages for a ice hockey to choose an agent/manager educated in law, and sports related law in particular. A lot of the work is about contracts and agreements, and Martin Klette´s long experience from working with law gives the client comprehensive service. A lot of ice hockey (SICO) agents represent two or three parties (the player, and one or both clubs involved in the transfer), and end up compromising the player’s interests, due to the will of fulfilling everybody else’s needs. We never carry out negotiations that way, since it´s against our main principle – to always put the player in the first room.
Over the years we have taken notice of a quantity of critical voices, which consider we are too good in captivating our client’s interests, even though it is exactly what we are trying to do. The clubs are often more experienced in negotiating contracts, which makes it even more important for the handball player to employ a proper expertise to face a sometimes complex negotiation.
More than ice hockey
Many ice hockey players move at some point in his career to a new country or a new city. This means that a lot of non–ice hockey related questions emerge. We feel that it is our responsibility to help these players in these matters, everything from regulations regarding taking a car to another country, to tax law questions. We even help our clients to sign appropriate injury insurances.
Engagement
As agents, we believe that it is crucial to be 100 percent committed to our clients, both on the court as well as outside. Due to the fact that we are more than one lawyer working with ice hockey clients, we have the possibility to attend to the player’s games. It is a policy that we have, to visit our clients abroad at least once a year, to check up on them and their families.
Contacts
Regarding our vocation in finding new clubs for our clients, we co–operate with other lawyers and agents in Europe, USA and Canada. The lawyers help us with important competence in law from their countries, which we don’t have.