“We want players to speak up, without repercussion"

Garton spoke of her experiences of playing for River Plate and Argentina that demonstrate the need for better standards in women football.

Arriving from good conditions in U.S. college soccer a few years ago, she found Argentine national football team players with $6-a-day stipends in ill-fitting kit and stitched-up old boots.

“We, as players, don’t speak out as a group enough,” Kompany said. “I’m glad to be part of this council. By moving the game forward, we’re doing something that really needs to happen.

“When you’re on your own and you speak up you put yourself in a very difficult position. You can be forgotten in the space of a transfer window."

Kompany said he wants FIFPRO and the GPC to help break the “glass ceiling” in football boardrooms for ethnic minorities.

He also wants players to take up with football authorities match load, which sees some national team players take part in almost 80 matches a year.

Footballers are being pushed “until they break down,” he said.