FIFPro, that's me
Abel Xavier: ‘Players must help social integration’
Abel Xavier played for the Portuguese national team and for 12 clubs in 8 countries. In an interview with the Portuguese professional footballers association SJPF he talks about racism and the importance of the union.
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.