The one complaint of the FIFA Club World Cup, in addition to the fields not being up to par, the intense heat and withering travel, was the little rest many clubs had in between the end of their long club campaigns.
Coming off the Club World Cup, FIFA and players union, FIFPRO are at serious odds
From short rest to long seasons, soccer’s governing body and unions are jockeying for position at the bargaining table
Some teams had merely days rest before jumping into the tournament. For example, semifinalists Paris St. Germain, had just 15 days between winning the Champions League final in Munich before flying Stateside to open its Club World Cup campaign against Atletico Madrid.
The long calendar isn’t expected to end with club seasons returning in a few short weeks all leading up to teams in the final phases of qualifying for next summer’s FIFA World Cup, again throughout North America. It’s caused concern for a number of players, who have expressed their discontent to several player unions, namely FIFPRO, the overarching union body for players.
However, FIFA released a statement over the weekend claiming that FIFPRO has been manufacturing “public confrontation driven by artificial PR battles,” and says that ongoing efforts to align with the players union on a number of issues from better time management for players to considering climate change when it comes to where and when matches are played have been toxic.
A few of the main points, FIFA says it’s tried to mitigate according to a release were:
- Mandatory minimum 72 hours of rest between matches
- Mandatory rest period / holiday of at least 21 days at the end of each season
- Provisions that in future discussions for the international match calendar, player travel - especially long-haul intercontinental trips - and the climatic conditions under which matches are played, should be considered when defining policies
- Timely payment of player salaries and the further development of the FIFA Fund for Professional Players, and
- The establishment of essential safeguards to protect players in areas such as equality, discrimination, and harassment.
Now, FIFA has decided to flip the script on the players union in an effort to not come off as disingenuous coming off the monthlong Club World Cup which ended earlier this month and ahead of next summer’s larger World Cup.
“Instead of welcoming these unprecedent announcements that benefit players all around the world, FIFPRO has responded with a series of personal and disrespectful attacks,” the release read. “This approach reveals a lot about FIFPRO priorities. It suggests that their leadership does not really care about the players, but rather about internal political fights and their image. FIFA’s proposed reforms are about impacting genuine change to support players and are far more important than preserving FIFPRO’s perceived image.”
Much of this arrived after player complaints due to what’s been an oppressive summer weather-wise in the United States. However, FIFPRO contends that soccer’s world governing body has been trying to silence players who speak out about unsavory conditions.
There’s something to be said about player’s having a concern. In about three weeks is the start of the 2025-26 campaign for a number of leagues around the world, most notably Spain’s La Liga, and the English Premier League which has a stronghold when it comes to viewership — and subsequent ratings among fans.
Now, the flip side to this argument has been that teams can — and should — create deep player pools to be able to rotate players out based on competitions, certain matchups and even load management to some extent.
However, while many teams do a good job of juggling players, having the best on the field provide the greatest opportunity to be successful, not to mention that the premium many fans pay for tickets directly correlate to who’s going to be on the field and not so much the badge on the shirt they’re wearing.
With that said, FIFA has noted its intent to invite FIFPRO back to the bargaining table to see what can be ironed out before another long campaign, culminating in yet another summer of soccer in the States gets underway.
“The reality is this: FIFA remains firmly committed to placing players at the core of football’s future, not just in words, but through concrete regulation and reform,” the released stated. “Therefore, FIFA invites FIFPRO to return to the negotiating table, once they have stopped their blackmail and withdrawn their complaints, and once they have published their statutes, their full financial reports (including all their sources of income, the detailed intellectual property rights of the players they claim to own, and the funding one of their regional divisions receives from some football organisations), and the full list of individual members they claim to represent. The game deserves unity, not division. Players deserve action, not rhetoric.”
Stay tuned.
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