FIFPRO ‘ready to fight’ against FIFA: ‘Nothing has changed’

FIFPRO President Sergio Marchi blames FIFA for its ’empty words’ as he notes that ‘nothing has changed’ for footballers in 2025, so he’s ‘ready to fight’ for their well-being.

FIFPRO President Marchi openly and strongly criticised FIFA in a letter published by the Spanish newspaper AS.

It is no secret that the increasing number of games has been a major issue for players and clubs in recent years, and Marchi notes that nothing has changed in 2025.

On the contrary, footballers have been subject to increasing pressure with even more games being played since January.

“2025 is coming to an end, and unfortunately, world football continues to show the same ills we warned about years ago,” Marchi wrote.

“We have heard promises, speeches and announcements from FIFA that seemed to mark the beginning of a new era, but they were only that. Empty words, announcements without substance. Nothing has changed.

“Throughout this year, there was talk about reforming the fixture list to protect the health and rest of footballers. A more human and rational football was promised, but nothing was put into practice. We continue to see endless seasons, with many matches every three days or less, exhausting trips, and no recovery breaks. Footballers are treated as inexhaustible resources, not as people.

“Those who play too much risk their physical and mental integrity, and those who play little continue without real opportunities, without policies that guarantee their development. Miserable wages and contract breaches also persist, affecting thousands of footballers around the world. Despite the commitments made and repeated complaints, it is still tolerated that some footballers work for months without being paid, or see their most basic rights violated. I have earned about this at every instance of dialogue, but the responses were silence or indifference.”

Earlier this week, FIFA held a meeting with players’ unions from across the world in Rabat, Morocco, but Marchi was highly unhappy with the outcome.

“It was decided who would be heard and who would be silenced,” he argued.

“That practice is no coincidence; it is a structural discrimination, and it is profoundly undemocratic. What is most serious is that by discriminating against unions, FIFA is also discriminating against the footballers they represent. They are punished not only for having an organised voice, for thinking differently and demanding dignity. This not only violates the right to collective representation but also reveals contempt for the most basic values of labour and human respect.

“As the President of FIFPRO World, I reaffirm my commitment to dialogue and to a constructive approach. I love what I do, I believe in the power of words and the pursuit of consensus, but I am also ready to fight, with conviction and determination. I am tired of hearing empty announcements and promises without tangible results.

“Tired of seeing how, since 2001, such a basic rule as the minimum duration of a one-year contract continues to be ignored. Thousands of footballers still lack that guarantee, and no one takes responsibility. Power, when exercised without dignity, ceases to be authority and becomes moral misery. My sole purpose is the well-being of all footballers, at every level and in every part of the world. Football cannot continue to be built on the sacrifice of those who make it possible.”