On the invitation of the Palestine football players a delegation of FIFPro (vice-president Piat and secretary general Van Seggelen) went to Ramallah, to meet the players’ representatives as well as the Palestine Football Association.

The FIFPro family has three new members. Morocco, Serbia and (under reservation) Costa Rica are official members of FIFPro. Four other unions have been nominated as candidate members.

With a high-profile General Meeting, a brand new office, an effective Internet site and, more than anything else, new members flooding in, the Association of Ivorian Footballers (AFI) has taken on a whole new dimension in recent months.

Next week, FIFPro will be welcoming its members to Tel Aviv, Israel, for the annual general meeting. From Tuesday 1 to Thursday 3 November, representatives of 54 trade unions for professional football players will attend the congress.

In recent history Chelsea had four of its players picked in the FIFPro World XI. This year, the footballers of the English title contender once again filled in their ballots, trying to regain a place on the best team on this planet.