October 13 – At the age of 83, Roger Blanpain, one of FIFPro’s founding fathers and its first president, has passed away in Leuven, Belgium.
Blanplain was one of the principal forces behind the foundation and development of a global union for players. FIFPro was established on 15 December 1965. On that day the representatives of the player’ unions of England, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Scotland chose him as the first FIFPro president.
The Belgian was a professor of social law at the University of Leuven. He studied law at Leuven Law and later pursued a Master of Arts degree at Columbia University, New York. An authority in his field, Blanplain was always a strong advocate for legislation that protected the rights of workers and fought to revise many regulations to achieve that protection.
He also defended the rights of football players, early on targeting the transfer system. “Buying and selling people to make profit is pure human trafficking,” said Blanplain. “It is a shame that a transfer system still exists, while the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights clearly states that human trafficking is prohibited.”
“The Bosman judgement of the European Court of Justice in 1995, which stated that no transfer fee could be charged for players out of contract at their club, was a simmer of hope,” fulminated Blanplain. “But that judgment was immediately circumvented by working with fixed-term contracts. Football players were sold during the course of their contract and the player, whose contract was about to expire to become a free agent, would receive a contract extension.”
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