FIFPro Reveals The Hidden Fear Silencing Football’s Top Players

‎The general secretary of the global players’ union FIFPro stated on Friday that top footballers are hesitant to speak out against playing an excessive number of matches, fearing it could negatively affect their careers.

‎Alex Phillips spoke following a meeting in Amsterdam attended by 58 national player unions from around the world, organized by FIFPro to address concerns about FIFA’s management of global football.

‎The gathering took place less than two weeks after the conclusion of the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup in the United States. FIFA president Gianni Infantino praised the tournament as a great success.

‎However, FIFPro criticized the event for the additional demands it placed on players already dealing with a busy schedule.

‎”Before the Club World Cup, I was speaking to some of the top stars and they were saying they hadn’t had a rest for ‘X’ amount of time,” Phillips said.

‎”One of them even said, ‘I’ll only get a rest when I get injured’. Others were resigned actually, and cynical about speaking up.

‎”Then you see some of the same players two weeks later having to record social media videos saying ‘We think the Club World Cup is great,’ because their employers are telling them to do it.

‎”You have this contradictory situation where players can’t speak up. They are in an invidious position. They can speak up but it might have consequences.”

‎FIFPro said that FIFA’s recent focus on the Club World Cup in the United States was an example of the body ignoring many fundamentally more important issues facing players around the world.

‎”It is unacceptable for an organisation that claims global leadership to turn a blind eye to the basic needs of the players,” FIFPro said in a statement, notably citing the “overloaded” match calendar, heat concerns at the Club World Cup, and an “ongoing disregard for players’ social rights”.

‎FIFPro Europe filed a complaint to the European Commission last year accusing FIFA of abusing its position with regards to its handling of the international match calendar.

‎The union’s summit on Friday took place after FIFPro was excluded from a meeting held by FIFA on the day before the recent Club World Cup final.

‎Argentina FIFPro on FIFA president

‎This week, Sergio Marchi, the Argentinian president of FIFPro, heavily criticized Infantino’s leadership of FIFA, describing it as an “autocracy” in an interview with The Athletic.

‎FIFA hit back at FIFPro in a statement on Friday as it called for dialogue “with legitimate bodies that put player welfare first” and said it had tried unsuccessfully to get the union to attend its meeting in New York on July 12.

‎”FIFA is extremely disappointed by the increasingly divisive and contradictory tone adopted by FIFPRO leadership,” the Zurich-based organisation said.

‎”This approach clearly shows that rather than engaging in constructive dialogue, FIFPRO has chosen to pursue a path of public confrontation,” which aims to preserve “their own personal positions and interests.”