- FIFPRO Europe and Player IQ held a roundtable in Brussels, Belgium with policymakers, football stakeholders, athlete representatives, legal and medical experts, trade union networks and academic researchers
- In collaboration with the Professional Tennis Players Association and KU Leuven, the event looked at health and safety frameworks for high-performance athletes in the European Sport Model
- It also examined how existing EU policies on occupational health and safety and fair competition should be applied to address the challenges faced by high-performance athletes and the professional sports sector in Europe
FIFPRO Europe, in collaboration with the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) and Belgian university KU Leuven, held a Player IQ roundtable in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday to discuss EU sport governance, occupational health and safety standards, and the role of social partner agreements.
The event featured policymakers and decisionmakers of the European Parliament, European Commission services (Education and Culture as well as DG Employment), trade union confederations (ETUC and UNI Europa), legal and medical experts and academic researchers, as well as representatives of football stakeholders including leagues, clubs and governing bodies.
The roundtable examined how existing EU policies and EU law, particularly on occupational safety and health and fair competition, can be effectively applied to address the unique challenges faced by players in a high-risk environment.
Strengthening the European Sport Model
Members of the European Parliament Bogdan Zdrojewski (Poland) and Nikola Minchev (Bulgaria) attended the event and provided opening and closing remarks to highlight the role of the European Parliament regarding the evolution of the European Sport Model.
MEP Nikola Minchev, Vice-Chair of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, said: "Player health and safety and athlete welfare is one of the primary concerns in our political discussions for the upcoming initiative report on sport by the European Parliament. The fact that elite sport is often a highly commercial and complex environment makes fair competition, governance standards and the protection of social rights even more important. In a globalised world, it is paramount that we find ways to strengthen the European Sport Model to make it more competitive, resilient and aligned with European law."
MEP Bogdan Zdrojewski, Vice-Chair of the Education and Culture Committee and the European Parliament’s Rapporteur for the initiative report on sport, said: "The roundtable organised by FIFPRO Europe was timely and highlighted important aspects for our discussions and upcoming decisions in the European Parliament.
"This is an important time for the professional sports sector in Europe. Professional football and other sports are an important pillar of our social, cultural and economic life in Europe. Both the European Parliament and the European Commission have a vital role to play in this mandate to strengthen the competitiveness and social fabric of the European Sport Model.
"The discussions on economic and social aspects as well as the role of social partners and existing EU policies during the roundtable were extremely interesting for our ongoing work."
Social rights and fair competition remain the focus
With mounting concerns about the impact of commercial interests and unilateral decision-making impacting fixture congestion, recovery time, long-term health impacts, and social partner agreements, the discussions focused on practical applications to strengthen social rights and fair competition in the context of the European Sport Model.
A FIFPRO-commissioned report published in November 2024 by Belgian University KU Leuven said the professional football sector is failing in its duty to apply required safety standards for players and, as a result, is violating existing legal frameworks at a European and global level.
FIFPRO Europe and European Leagues, representing European player unions and national leagues, filed a complaint to the European Commission in October 2024 against FIFA over its conduct concerning the imposition of the International Match Calendar, including decisions relating to the Club World Cup.
Equally, the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) in March this year submitted an antitrust complaint to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and served letters before action in the UK, EU and New York against the governing bodies of professional tennis.
Reflecting on the roundtable, PTPA Deputy Executive Director Romain Rosenberg said: "While there are many differences between professional football and tennis, the discussions during the roundtable showed that when it comes to the absence of effective social rights protections and player welfare standards, as well as unilateral governance and decision-making at international level, the problems are similar."
Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO’s Director of Global Policy and Strategic Relations for Men’s Football, said: "We are facing important challenges in the football industry and beyond. It was important to discuss with all relevant experts, football stakeholders, and European Commission and European Parliament representatives how we can ensure social rights respect social partner agreements and balance commercial interests between the stakeholders to create a resilient and competitive football sector in Europe and beyond.
"The backdrop now is that we are having important legal cases going on to protect the interests of the players and social partners. However, we should not lose sight of the fact that we need political and pragmatic solutions in our sector. We are happy that all stakeholders have come together in Brussels for constructive discussions on these topics – but what the players and the sector needs is meaningful and substantive action."
