FIFPro, that's me
Jason Roberts: ‘I believe we can reach children’
‘I am fortunate enough to play in the Premier League and do a job that I love’, says Jason Roberts. ‘I feel it is my responsibility to share my knowledge to those less fortunate, to create a positive outlook in their lives.'
Alexandros Tzorvas: ‘Our lives are endangered’
‘The situation is out of control. Our lives are endangered.’ Alexandros Tzorvas is the Panathinaikos and Greek national team goalkeeper. He talks about the situation in Greece, where fans have attacked footballers.
Nikola Nikezic: ‘They said I was going to be disabled'
‘If I remain silent, this history will repeat itself.’ Nikola Nikezic wants to talk. The forward from Montenegro was brutally forced by Russian club FC Kuban to terminate his contract.
Fabien Lemoine: 'At first, I wanted to live'
Fabien Lemoine of Stade Rennais Football Club fractured a kidney on the second day of this year's championship. Surprisingly quick, he has returned to playing. Fabien tells his story.
Michael Stewart: a club in Turkey but no money
‘The first 100 percent offer I received came from Turkey, from Gençlerbirligi. They offered me big money, it was very difficult to refuse.’ But Michael Stewart's stay in Turkey brought him more problems than happiness.
FIFPro, that's me
FIFPro, that's me is a column in which FIFPro puts 50,000 professional footballers under the world's close scrutiny. What are the positive aspects of the profession? How do they survive in a footballing world that's occasionally difficult? What tips would they give to a professional colleague? What does the professional future look like after a footballing career? The footballer speaks: his story is also the story of FIFPro.
Previous players
‘Only a few scientific studies have been done about the long-term social-medical problems that arise as a consequence of a career in top sport’, says Vincent Gouttebarge, former professional footballer turned scientist.
After a long wait, the severe heart attack suffered by the Luis Flores Abarca (Ñublense) during a game against Palestino - inl 2009 - has been acknowledged as an accident at work, so he will be getting an invalidity pension.
FIFPro visited Didier Drogba, the captain of the national team of Ivory Coast and honorary president of FIFPro Division Africa. Drogba talks with FIFPro about football in Ivory Coast and his new adventure in China.