KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING —- FIFA has pressed on with its project toexclude international players’ association FIFPRO from wide-ranging talks about footballers’ welfare.

The world federation president Gianni Infantino and secretary-general Mattias Grafström led a FIFA delegation in what it described as “fruitful discussions with players’ unions from across the world” in Rabat, Morocco ahead of the final of the U-17 Women’s World Cup.

An initial meeting sidestepping FIFPRO had been organised by FIFA during the Cub World Cup in the United States in July.

A FIFA statement said the Rabat meeting had been attended by “members of the players’ voice panel, including honorary captain George Weah, and several legends and world champions from men’s and women’s football” as well as representatives from 30 players’ unions.

The failure to involve FIFPRO, which represents more than 65,000 members and 72 national unions, raises obvious questions about the validity of Infantino’s strategy.

In explaining the initiative, he said: “At FIFA, we remain committed to further enhancing player welfare and working conditions across the world by implementing concrete and meaningful measures.

“This is evident through the substantial investment that FIFA will be making through the FIFA Fund for Professional Players, and through other opportunities to engage via the various FIFA bodies, as well as other important initiatives agreed at this initial FIFA Professional Players Consultation Forum gathering.”

A barbed jibe at FIFPRO was a further comment that “FIFA wants to work with all those genuinely interested in progress and respectful dialogue – our door is always open to all views that respect these values.”

The Rabat meeting created a FIFA Professional Players Consultation Forum after a reaffirmation of an earlier agreement featuring –

At least 72 hours of rest between matches;

Rest period/holiday of at least 21 days between seasons;

One rest day per week; and

Measures to consider long-haul intercontinental trips and climatic conditions.

A lucrative carrot on offer from FIFA is the promise to set up a $20m fund for professional players for the 2026-2029 period.

FIFA’s statement said: “The objective of the fund is to provide financial support to players who are unable to recover outstanding salaries due to financial difficulties faced by their clubs. The relevant regulations will be defined by FIFA in due course in consultation with the players’ unions.

“FIFA will establish a dedicated support mechanism for players’ unions subject to strict good governance criteria. This support will be aimed at developing players’ union activities within their respective national jurisdictions. Special focus will be given to programmes aimed at training and educating youth and professional players, as well as developing and growing women’s football.

“A working group involving FIFA and the players’ unions will be established to advance legal matters through regular meetings and continuous dialogue. The working group will cover topics such as the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, national dispute resolution chambers and minimum standards for player contracts.”

FIFPRO statement

FIFPRO takes note of FIFA’s announcement that at a meeting in Rabat, Morocco it presented several player-related measures following discussions with certain groups and individuals, mainly brought by FIFA member associations from around the world. FIFPRO was not invited to the meeting.

The meeting did not involve a meaningful global representation of independent player unions that speak on behalf of players and are an integral part of labour negotiations.

This approach reinforces a concerning pattern. FIFA has previously applied similar strategies with agents and fans, creating FIFA-friendly organisations for consultation processes rather than engaging with the recognised football representative bodies. Extending this practice to employment matters and promoting fake or ‘yellow’ unions undermines collective worker representation and runs counter to International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions.

FIFA presented the FIFA Fund for Professional Players as a new initiative although it was originally established in collaboration with FIFPRO in 2020 to support players when they could not recover unpaid wages by their clubs through legal means; the fund was discontinued by FIFA after 2022.

FIFPRO is seeking common sense solutions for the football industry through open, transparent and non-discriminatory governance processes. These principles already exist in the European Union, where such matters are currently addressed between the proper representation of European Leagues, European Football Clubs and FIFPRO Europe*.

This approach is demonstrated by the proposal for a governance framework presented jointly by FIFPRO and World Leagues Association to address the issues in the complaint by European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe over FIFA’s imposition of the International Match Calendar – a proposal to which FIFA has not yet responded.

While FIFA has made some important advances together with FIFPRO in recent years, FIFA continues to hide its unilateral governance structure of professional football behind so-called stakeholder consultation – a deeply flawed process as shown with the meeting in Rabat.

As the global representative of players, FIFPRO is ready to hold structured labour dialogue and negotiations with FIFA and all relevant stakeholders on all matters involving employment rights including the right to (1) be paid on time, (2) a fair transfer system, (3) adequate protection from occupational risks such as lack of rest and holiday.

FIFA should help establish a proper collective bargaining process at global level based on ILO standards and conventions. This process must be fair, structured and genuine.

* The EU football collective bargaining agreement (CBA) framework is formally known as the “European Sectoral Social Dialogue for Professional Football”. The negotiation process is under the auspices of the European Commission, with European Leagues and European Football Clubs representing clubs (the employers) on one side, and FIFPRO Europe the exclusive recognised representative of the players (the employees) on the other side. The process is chaired by UEFA, which has no voting rights.

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