FIFPro wants FIFA to take action against MLS

The members of FIFPro spoke in detail about the situation of the football players in the USA, where the Major League Soccer refuses to abide by FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP). At their general assembly in Budapest, Hungary, the FIFPro members drew up a resolution.

During the last year the MLS Players Union has held talks with the MLS, as the current collective bargaining agreement is to expire on 1 February 2010. The Players Union has proposed that the MLS must abide by the RSTP, as every professional league in the world does.

But the MLS has consistently refused. It ignores FIFA rules in several respects. For instance: there are players without a guaranteed contract, player contracts are routinely terminated by the league, MLS acts as a cartel, there is no freedom of movement for any MLS player, and virtually any player can be transferred to another club in the league without his consent. 

This situation prompted FIFPro to make the following resolution: 
The members of the international players’ union FIFPro, meeting in their general assembly in Budapest Hungary on 20 November 2009, wish to voice their concern about the situation in the USA regarding the failure of that country’s Federation and Professional League to abide by FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, and affirm the following statements: 

-The Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players are fundamental to the maintenance of contractual stability on a world-wide basis. 
-FIFPro has been instrumental in working with FIFA to develop the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players. 
-FIFPro aspires to equal rights and obligations for all professional footballers throughout the whole world. The legal status of every professional player in each country must be equal. 
-FIFPro demands that FIFA enforce its regulations with the Federations and require those Federations, like the USA, that fail to comply, to immediately respect and comply with FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players. 
-All FIFPro members, and all professional footballers around the globe, stand united and in solidarity with the players in the USA as they fight to ensure that FIFA’s regulations are enforced. 

The members of the international players’ union FIFPro, meeting in their general assembly in Budapest Hungary on 20th November 2009, demand that FIFA take responsibility in these matters, take account of the views of the players, and ensure that the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players are enforced on a global basis, particularly in the USA.