
FIFA and FIFPRO have announced that 1,005 players will benefit from the first instalment of the fund that aims to help players receive part of their outstanding salaries when their clubs disappear, for example after a bankruptcy.
More than 100 clubs shut down around the world in the five years through February 2020, when the fund was announced. Many of them were Greek clubs, and they left Tsoukanis among more than 250 players in the national league out of pocket.
Tsoukanis (pictured above left) and his teammates at Greek Super League club Niki Volos were in the dressing room before a cup match when the president walked in.
Normally the president would pay the match referee and assistants with that day’s ticket money, but only 20 fans had turned up because of a fan boycott. He did not have enough to pay the officials and said if the boycott continued he would shut down the 50-year old club.