FIFPRO President David Aganzo speaks at World Leagues Forum in London

• Aganzo became FIFPRO President at last month’s General Assembly
• International Match Calendar among many topics discussed
• Continuing collaboration for better governance in football

Aganzo, who was confirmed as president for FIFPRO at last month’s General Assembly in Paris, spoke to representatives from more than 40 professional leagues about subjects ranging from the International Match Calendar and the importance of league and player bodies working together.

Speaking in London, Aganzo said: “As leagues and as players we have so much in common – starting with the basic principles for collective governance frameworks that we have built and sustained in many domestic playing markets.

“We cannot demand less internationally than what is rightly expected from us domestically. We have accepted the international governance structures for far too long and ignored the solutions and principles that are in front of us – principles that we have built for ourselves in our own markets.”

Regarding the match calendar Aganzo, who played professionally in many years for several clubs in Spain before working with AFE, the Spanish player union, said:  “New formats are threatening the fabric of our domestic industry and overwhelm a calendar that is already overcrowded and requires workload safeguards. The question here is not whether we need innovation or not, of course we do, but why all these plans came into existence without the required assessment and involvement of players and leagues in the first place.”

Aganzo’s speech in London follows an address from WLF Chairman Enrique Bonilla to FIFPRO’s General Assembly last month, highlighting the further cooperation between the two organisations and the stakeholders that they represent.