Fifa and Fifpro to launch global fund for players

Fifa and
Fifpro – the world players’ union – have set up a global fund to protect
players’ salaries.

The Fifa
Fund for Football Players (Fifa FFP) will provide financial support to players
who have not been – and will not be – paid by their club.

World
governing body Fifa has set aside $16m (£12.3m) for the fund up to 2022, split
into yearly allocations.

Another $5m
(£3.8m) has also been allocated for players affected between July 2015 and June
2020.

Fifa
president Gianni Infantino added: “This agreement and our commitment to
helping players in a difficult situation show how we interpret our role as
world football’s governing body.

“We are
also here to reach out to those in need, especially within the football
community, and that starts with the players, who are the key figures in our
game.”

In 2019,
Fifa updated its disciplinary code to improve the framework for dealing with
the non-payment of players’ salaries.

It said if a
club “unlawfully failed to pay a player at least two monthly salaries on
their due dates, the player will be deemed to have a just cause to terminate
his contract”.

This new
mechanism will come into operation on 1 July 2020.

Said Fifpro
president Philippe Piat: “More than 50 clubs in 20 countries have shut in
the last five years, plunging hundreds of footballers into uncertainty and
hardship,”

“This
fund will provide valuable support to those players and families most in need.
Many of these clubs have shut to avoid paying outstanding wages, immediately
re-forming as so-called new clubs.

“Fifpro
has long campaigned against this unscrupulous practice and thanks Fifa for
combating it in its disciplinary code.”