Guide: how to recognise fake scouts and dubious offers
Where young players have dreams, there are people who sell dreams. A few checks protect players and parents.
Warning signs
- Guarantees of a trial, a contract or a place at a big club
- Money for a promise rather than for a clearly described service
- Pressure: “sign today”, “only one place left”, “don’t tell your club”
- Contact only through social media, no company name, no address
- Requests for private meetings with minors without parents
- An “agent” who cannot show a FIFA licence
How to check
- Look up the company: legal notice, register entry, address
- Check an agent in FIFA’s public register of licensed agents
- Ask which clubs and scouts are actually involved — and verify it
- Ask for everything in writing: what is included, what it costs, what the cancellation terms are
- Parents of under-18s: be part of every conversation and every signature
Transparency at the SKN Excellence Campus
- Organiser and contracting party: Doppelweiss GmbH, Hamburg — legal notice
- Sporting partner: SKN St. Pölten; agency partner: Sports Excellence Group with FIFA licence
- One all-inclusive price, €6,000, with a published list of what is included and the cancellation terms
- No contract guarantee — the routes to a contract are described openly in routes to a contract
More about the Campus
- The four days at the SKN Excellence Campus
- Trial match against the SKN St. Pölten first team, and scouts
- Price and what's included
- Accommodation and food
- Who can take part
- Venue: SKN St. Pölten, Austria
- Booking, registration deadline and cancellation
- Organiser and partners
- A day at the Campus: daily times
- Travel and arrival: Vienna airport, train, transfer, visa
- For parents and guardians
- Packing list for the Campus
- Routes to a contract: SKN St. Pölten and Sports Excellence Group
- Guide: how do footballers get scouted?
- Guide: do I need a football agent?
- Guide: football CV and highlight video
- Guide: how to recognise a serious football camp
- Guide: is a professional contract guaranteed after a camp or trial?
- Football camp, trial, academy or tryout: the differences
- Guide: how realistic is becoming a professional footballer?
- Guide: how to prepare for a trial or camp — and how to stand out
- Guide: international players, minors and football rules
- Guide: what happens after a camp or trial — and if you are not selected
- Guide: mental strength, pressure and coachability
- The football market in Austria and Germany: a rough guide for young players
- What the top 1% do differently — and how the Campus trains for it
- Frequently asked questions