FIFPRO welcomes steps taken towards the recovery of professional football in both national and continental competitions. However, we are concerned that stakeholders have so far failed to introduce safeguards to protect player health during what will be a highly-congested schedule.
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Player health safeguards vital to prevent post-Covid-19 match overload
“I left school at 16 and had never sent an email before”
Gareth Farrelly has progressed from playing in the Premier League to becoming a member of its prestigious judicial panel. Farrelly, who left school at aged 16, admits he had never sent an email as a player in the top English league for Everton and Bolton. He played against some big names in football including Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand (see picture).
Unions are distributing food to players in need
Player unions in seven Latin American and African countries are distributing food packages to professional footballers who have not received their salaries, or had massive pay cuts, after leagues were suspended to stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Romanian club FC Astra pressurizes its players with salary arrears
Romanian top division club FC Astra Giurgu told their players that they will get their salary arrears of January and February if they agree with a salary reduction of 50 percent for a 9-month period as from January until September 2020.
Zesh Rehman got a degree online while playing in Asia
Zesh Rehman is the most noticeable of this year’s FIFPRO Online Academy graduates. The 36-year old professional footballer earned his Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management while playing in South-East Asia.
The Zahir Belounis case: trapped in Qatar
Zahir Belounis found himself trapped in Qatar. The French-Algerian professional footballer became a victim of the country’s so-called ‘kafala system’. FIFPRO was at the heart of an international effort to free him and his family and ensure his human rights.
How Igor Strelkov made training alone in Russia illegal
Igor Strelkov fought against the practice of training alone. He objected to his club’s order to daily train in the cold Russian winter while the rest of the team was at training camp in Turkey and Spain. Strelkov won his case and the Russian Football Association declared training alone illegal.