People of the Union: Sergio Marchi (Argentina)

People of the Union puts the spotlight on individuals across FIFPRO’s member associations who are dedicated to improving the wellbeing of professional footballers in their country.

Sergio Marchi is the secretary general of Argentinian player union Futbolistas Argentinos Agremiados (FAA) and president of FIFPRO South America. The former centre-back talks about his passion for unionism, the challenges for football and his daily motivation.

FIFPRO: Tell us about yourself: what is your current role and what is your background?

I had my training from a trade union point of view and demanding rights since I was a student. I was a militant in those old student centres that fought for students at the height of the military dictatorship in Argentina in 1977 and 1978. I belong to that generation. After that, I always got involved when I was a footballer. I joined the union when I signed my first contract in the 80s and I always participated in union movements. I must have taken part in 18 strikes, which is no small feat. Some of them in record time, like when we had to stop football for 50 days in a country as football-loving as Argentina, which is not easy at all. I don't advise it, but we had to do it and luckily we were able to overcome it. Today I am the general secretary of Futbolistas Argentinos Agremiados (FAA), which would be like the presidency of the union. I have a very good working team. We go around the clubs interacting with the players, seeing where they train, talking to the captains. Everything that union work represents.

Since 2022 I have been president of FIFPRO South America. In these two and a half years we have signed educational, economic and political agreements and we have worked closely with CONMEBOL. So, we have made a lot of progress from an institutional and management point of view, advising a lot of young players in the region. Many of them have incredible stories. The world of football has more poor people than rich people. People associate footballers with money and I would say that 98 percent are ‘football workers’. We see a lot of cases that are not nice and that disgust me, especially because they should no longer happen in the 21st century.

What issue affecting player welfare are you most passionate about?

The number one point should be a common denominator for everyone: strict compliance with employment contracts and the clubs that don’t comply cannot compete. It is unacceptable that today a team, for example Jorge Wilstermann or Blooming of Bolivia, have seven or eight months of unpaid wages and that they compete freely in continental competition without anyone saying anything. If you don't pay, you have to find a way to say ‘there is a limit to this’. Otherwise, the player becomes a victim. It is a form of economic violence towards the player and their family that is irreversible. We see it every day. FIFA has been saying for 25 years that contracts should last at least one year, but in 50 percent of the world, contracts do not even last one year. So why do they play? We have to use our voices and change the criteria to improve this situation.

Can you share one of your proudest moments or achievements working as a union representative?

I prefer not to personalise because I believe in teams working together on an idea in order to achieve success. In FAA, we have developed many achievements. For example, we take great care of the health of our members and their families. We provide full-spectrum medical coverage, among many benefits.

But if there is one thing I am very happy about, it is that we have been able to update our collective bargaining agreement. I see that in many places in the world there are no collective agreements. Ours is a modern one. We had the problem that the Europeans had for a long time, that of playing with the right of retention. One of our first achievements was to abolish that right and that footballers, at the end of their contract, are free. Here they accused us of going against the capital of the clubs, but it was a very important achievement. We put players on an equal footing, we levelled the playing field. I would also like to add the end of career fund, which is a recognition of the career of the players when they retire. They receive a universal amount that is paid on a one-off basis. For me, it is remarkable that we have been doing this for 14 consecutive years, even with all the economic complexities of our region.

What do you like most about your daily work?

I love what I do. We are leaders and the leader is there to serve those who in some way elect you. You have to do it with responsibility and commitment, but fundamentally with love and passion. That's why I'm happy to come to work. The most important thing is to do your best to try to make sure that the other person gets something from you. That's what I like about my job: trying to do something for the other person.

If you could change anything in football, what would it be?

The issue of contracts is the most profound. You have a counterpart which is FIFA. You have to generate a global agreement with FIFA so that this agreement then spills down the pyramid. FIFA cannot allow a club to owe five months' salary and that must be a rule that comes down from an agreement with FIFA.

We have to reach an agreement that has several points, some more urgent than others. For example, footballers have to participate in the distribution of the money that the football industry generates, which today only a very small part of it participates. We have to work on a better distribution because, in order for some to reach the World Cup, they had to compete against others who are lower down the pyramid and who somehow made them better. And those at the bottom have to be compensated in some way. For me, the left-back of a Paraguayan third division team is as important as Cristiano Ronaldo. They are both footballers, they are both workers and they both have families.

I always say that you can live without a hand, without an eye, without a leg, but you can't live without a heart. You die. And the footballer is the heart of football. Without footballers, there is no football.