July 13 – At the start of the Club World Cup FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino met with selected representatives from the European Club Association. At the end of it he and his cohort of good old boys met with a group of player unions but failed to invite the only players’ union that truly matters, Fifpro.
Fifpro has wasted no time responding to snub, branding Infantino as “the man who thinks he’s god” in a statement that pours scorn on both Infantino and the Club World Cup.
Fifpro has long railed against the lack of engagement in the international calendar by Infantino and have brought a case against FIFA in the European Courts.
Central to Fifpro’s complaints have been warnings over player welfare as FIFA puts money and commercial ambition before those that they mandate to play in their competition. The other issue here is that FIFA does not pay the players to compete, they pay the clubs prize money. The players are already under contract with their clubs.
“At FifPro, we have been warning about the overcrowded schedule, the lack of physical and mental rest for players, and the lack of dialogue from Fifa. This way of organizing tournaments, without listening to the Federation that represents the world’s professional footballers’ associations, is unilateral, authoritarian, and based solely on a logic of economic profitability, not human sustainability. We cannot continue to play with the health of players to fuel a marketing machine,” said Fifpro.
FIFA in its triumphant press release of its meeting said they addressed key issues concerning player health (both men and women), “a top priority given that it forms part of the occupational risk prevention framework established by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
“FIFA and the player unions reviewed upcoming joint projects involving the world’s football governing body and players’ representative organisations, with a specific focus on player rest and recovery, as well as competitions within the context of the International Match Calendar (IMC).”
FIFA then goes on to detail a number of initiatives and recommendations, most of which are already accepted as operational practice including at least 72 hours of rest between matches, and a rest period / holiday of at least 21 days at the end of each season.
“Furthermore, a rest day per week should also be planned, whilst being managed pragmatically.”
FIFA said: “The meeting aimed to address key priorities, such as:
- the representation of players and player unions in FIFA’s standing committees and in the FIFA Football Tribunal,
- their potential participation in FIFA Council meetings when players’ matters are addressed
- the creation of an open, global and consultative player representatives FIFA panel
- the further reform of the transfer system and its related regulations (e.g. Training compensation, trial of young players, etc.)
- the development and growth of women’s football
- cooperation in establishing collective agreements to improve player conditions
- the timely payment of player salaries and the FIFA Fund for Professional Players
- the development of training and education programmes for youth and professional players, and
- the establishment of essential safeguards to protect players in areas such as equality, discrimination, and harassment.”
So in reality, nothing that has not been discussed or proposed before, though point three -the creation of an open, global and consultative player representatives FIFA panel – stands out. This ‘important’ meeting was conducted without the most important player union in the world that represents more players (and crucially those that FIFA needs for its competitions) than the rest of those present combined.
“There is no spectacle possible if the voices of the protagonists are silenced. At FifPro, we reiterate our commitment: we will firmly defend every right, denounce every abuse, and demand that Fifa adopt a truly inclusive policy that respects the integrity of footballers and places them at the center of every decision.”
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