Source:REUTERS/Matthew Childs
[Saba Sports News] The International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) has issued a statement condemning FIFA’s “authoritarian governance.” On the 25th, FIFPro held a meeting in Amsterdam with 58 player associations worldwide, expressing deep concerns over FIFA’s current management of global football. FIFPro reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the rights of male and female players, which it argues are severely undermined by FIFA’s commercially driven policies. Overloaded schedules, insufficient recovery time, extreme match conditions, lack of meaningful dialogue, and persistent neglect of players’ social rights have, unfortunately, become pillars of FIFA’s business model—jeopardizing athlete welfare and marginalizing the sport’s core stakeholders. As the global players’ union, FIFPro insists that football’s “new era” is impossible without addressing systemic inequalities and abuses. Any competition built on exhaustion, exclusion, and exploitation is unacceptable.