It has been more than a decade since Cristina Niculaev (38) founded the IMAGE 4 SPORT Agency. She was an athlete, graduated two universities, Law and Foreign Languages, speaking four of them, English, Spanish, French and Russian. We spoke to Cristina and we found out how the life of an agent is, how the agency can help the athletes and what future plans she has.

– The first multi-sport agency in Romania is yours. Where did it all started?

– I began back when videos with the player’s game were sent by post to different clubs in Europe. It would take one to two weeks to reach its destination! (laughs) This happened about 10 years ago. I remember that later on I found some sites, where the file transfer was allowed, but it was a niggling process, it took many hours to upload and send a video. Together with a friend, who was pro athlete at that time and graduated from an important Management University in Canada, now being my associate and in charge of the volleyball department, we spoke with coaches, players and noticed that there are certain needs on both sides. And I am talking here about recruiting players and finding a team as a player. We started with volleyball, because we had friends in that branch, and then we continued with handball and basketball. 

– Do you remember who was the first athlete you worked with?

– Yes, I do. It is the professional handball player Daria Ilina (Pivot). I transfered her from Rostov-Don to the first league in Spain, she played there 4 years. Subsequently, I signed her also in Romania, where she played 2 seasons for Ramnicu Valcea. A special and skilled athlete.

– How does a manager’s schedule look like during the mercato?

– It is a very loaded program, which is why requires some principles of time management. I am a perfectionist, and I wish that the work I am submitting reflects the same thing! There are many discussions and meetings with the players, the clubs, the coaches, as well as attending and viewing the games, continuous study. It is crucial to evolve and develop to best serve the needs of players and clubs.

– Which sport branches does IMAGE 4 SPORT Agency include and which ones are the most developed?

– Currently, IMAGE 4 SPORT includes 3 sports: handball, volleyball and basketball. But the first steps have been taken to football as well, which we intend to develop in the future. Each sport is different in approach and has its own pace of development, taking into account markets and sports rules and legislative regulations. Reported to the number of signed players, the markets in France and Romania are the ones we work the most. Women’s volleyball and handball are the most developed now, but we continue to expand to include more clubs and players as possible.

– How can IMAGE 4 SPORT Agency help the athletes and why should they choose your agency?

– Each player is unique, and this makes the approach not a universal one. There is a flexibility in managing players, depending on their level and objectives, but also on the situations that may arise in the sportlife of a player. A good agent can help a lot the player’s career, same like a less skilled agent can damage it, whether we are talking about faulty management or team proposals that can not develop the true potential of the player. But it does not all depend on the agent. Agents are as good as the players they represent. It does not matter how many connections or influence a sport agent has, the talent and the work of the player are those that help place him in the best teams. The focus is on building a solid relationship player-agent and club-agent and not focus on the short-term benefits for the agent. The service area of the agency is diverse and depends on the needs of the players. It starts from the legal support, contract negotiation, career management, the image of the player in the media, and extends to counseling on the transition process from one country to another, the visa process, sports nutrition or sports psychology, adapted physical training, medical services networking. The priority for us is to seek and bring our players as many opportunities as possible. Our approach is global, which means that the exposure we offer is global. Therefore, working with IMAGE 4 SPORT Agency should not be an intimidating step for players, but on the contrary, they should be positive and confident about what represents this step for their career.

– What is the selection criteria when it comes to players?

– The focus is on both the player’s level and their potential. Another important aspect is the character of the player, because he is the one who will represent the agency image in relation to the teams and the coaches. Seriousness and discipline are also key elements that help a good relationship with the agent and teams. We work with top player and those at the beginning of their career, giving them the opportunity to evolve to the highest level.

– How many players does IMAGE 4 SPORT Agency include now and where do you think you’ve made the most important transfers, in Romania or abroad?

– The agency represents over 200 players, each sport having responsible in charge to deal with players and clubs. It is a teamwork, and human relationships are very important. One aspect to be emphasized is that we account for 70% of the sport being women players making the female branch the best developed. Each transfer is important, it is an accomplishment for us and we are glad to witness the steps taken by a player in his career. The transfers of the Romanian players are always very important, whether we sign them in Romania or abroad.

– How are the agents seen in Romania in comparison to other countries?

– It depends greatly on the sport agent, the reputation he has, the way he works and the player portfolio he owns. As far as I noticed in Romania, here I will report on the handball, because in volleyball and in basketball there is already legislation in force at the federation level regarding the agent activity, things are still at the level of regularization. It would certainly be very useful for the Handball Federation to adopt the same system as in the neighboring countries, such as Hungary and Poland, or in others such as France, Germany or the Nordic countries. It would eliminate many unpleasant situations and would create more responsibility for the sport agents working in Romania. Personally, for a better job, I opted to work legally and adapted to each country’s legislative requirements. We are among the major agencies operating on the market, and we have often deal with the negative experiences that the players had with various sport agents. It is important to know that the relationship between a sport agent and a player must be based on much respect, consideration, and availability on the part of the agent.

–We noticed an increasing number of foreigner players who play in the Romanian Championships, while the results of our National Teams aren’t that extraordinary. How do you see this situation?

– I’m going to talk about handball in this case. The sports market is fluid and the fact that players choose to evolve in different championships, gain experience and adapt to different game styles is a normal process. A foreigner player can add value to a team, but also create diversity in the domestic championship. Nevertheless the focus should be on the Romanian players, on their development, on the game minutes they receive. A favorable aspect is represented by the subgroups implemented by the Romanian Handball Federation, these subgroups are helping to the development of regional handball. This will certainly be reflected in the recruitment options that clubs will have in the future and at the same time in the formation of competitive national teams. I am confident that in the coming years the level of Romanian handball will increase even more.

– Starting with the season 2018/2019 some changes regarding the criteria value for foreigner athletes were introduced. Is this change a good one for the Romanian Championship?

– Personally, I am familiar with the selection criteria that other countries have, both when it comes to the number of foreign players and their level. The teams in Romania were, however, aiming at high-level players, and the value criteria was put in place in order to refine the recruitment process. The negative side of these implementations is that there are major differences between what other championships/countries can offer, and what Romania can offer. For example, a player who has offers from countries such as France, Germany, Norway, Hungary or Denmark will in most cases choose to sign there, to the detriment of a contract in Romania, even if it might be more attractive from a financial point of view. Except for some clubs that can present an attractive package for players, it is very difficult for the rest of the clubs in our country to transfer players in criteria. Of course they can deal with the two players who are exempt from the criteria, to which the native players are added, but they will not be able to have faire chances against the teams in the top spots. And here, the one who has the most to suffer at the moment is male handball. I think a gradual change of these criteria would have been much easier to adapt.

– Do these changes make the work of a sport agent more difficult?

– They are certainly restrictive for the work of an agent because you are in a position to militate for some sporting and extrasporting conditions that can not be compared to those in other countries and which are important for the players in the criteria. Here, too, I refer to the organization of clubs, trainings, halls, infrastructure or extracurricular life. So a club at the bottom of the leaderboard has very low chances to transfer players which fit the criteria.–

– What are your future plans in order to develop the agency?

– There is much room for development and refinement, and these are the elements I work on continuously. The objective is to strengthen the relationship with the players and the clubs, maximize the presence in the sports environment and diversify the services in line with the new sporting trends. Another aspect is that of sports marketing, which I want to develop to provide a complete package for the players. Last year, a new concept was set up, which is dedicated exclusively to coaches, namely a consulting and representation agency for coaches. We started as usual with volleyball, and we are going to expand ourselves to handball and basketball…