- Fernando Revilla (FIFPRO South America) and Alejandro Sequeira (FIFPRO CNA) nominated to join the new FIFPRO global board
- Divisional congress took place 3-4 September in Cancun, Mexico
- At the 2024 FIFPRO General Assembly in November, FIFPRO members will have to approve candidacies
Peru's Fernando Revilla (SAFAP) and Costa Rica's Alejandro Sequeira (ASOJUPRO) have been nominated by their American peers to join the new FIFPRO global board as of November 2024.
On 3 and 4 September, FIFPRO South America and FIFPRO Central and North America jointly held a historic joint-congress in Cancun, Mexico, where the South American unions proceeded to nominate their representative.
Revilla was elected by a majority vote of the eight members of FIFPRO South America present in Mexico. The general manager of the Peruvian union joins Sequeira, who had already been elected in June as a candidate by FIFPRO CNA and is currently a member of FIFPRO's interim global board.
"We have resolved in assembly our representative and it has fallen to Fernando Revilla to revalidate his place. We thank Carlos Gonzalez Puche (the other candidate, co-founder of Colombia's ACOLFUTPRO) for everything he has done over the years. We are a team and Fernando's voice is my voice and the voice of the representation of the entire FIFPRO South America region," said Sergio Marchi, president of FIFPRO South America and member of the FIFPRO's interim global board.
Both Revilla and Sequeira will join the new global structure along with representatives from other divisions, subject to member approval at the FIFPRO General Assembly in Indonesia later this year.
Aftermath of a historic congress
The two-day meeting was attended by 13 player unions and associations: FAA (Argentina), FABOL (Bolivia), ACOLFUTPRO (Colombia), ASOJUPRO (Costa Rica), Sifup (Chile), MLSPA (USA), AFHO (Honduras), AMFPro (Mexico), AFUTPA (Panama), FAP (Paraguay), MUFP (Uruguay) and AUFPV (Venezuela).
"I would like to highlight the cooperation and unity between the FIFPRO regional divisions established in the American continent, who have jointly held a constructive congress this week", said Stephane Burchkalter, FIFPRO interim general secretary, who was present in Cancun.
"The South American territory's collaboration with CONMEBOL shows signs of progress, while the Central and North American body is ready to discuss as soon as possible with Concacaf the issues affecting footballers in the region. Both regional bodies know that they can count on FIFPRO's global support to make progress in their respective territories."
Alvaro Ortiz, president of FIFPRO Central and North America, said: "It is an honour to be able to host this type of meeting. We are in a new stage and we were finally able to bring together the two divisions, which is extremely important as we have many things in common.
"We hope that this will help us, in the future, to propose better things to the sporting bodies such as CONMEBOL, Concacaf and FIFA itself. This event in Mexico allows us to identify common problems and, with everyone's experience, to look for solutions or alternatives according to the context of each country.
Sergio Marchi also welcomed a meeting between the two divisions that came about "after a long time". He said: "I think we have been able to debate intelligently, generate proposals and draw conclusions about the problems facing the region and raise some considerations to FIPPRO globally, especially in the coming stage, which is one of new governance."
"I have a lot of faith to see what we can bring to the table and generate a lot of changes that footballers need in the short term. We have common problems and differentiated problems and that's where we have to work. I think football should have one voice, we should discuss and draw conclusions in that sense."
