May 14 – A joint project between FIFA and FIFPro to help players whose salaries were not paid has sent $2 million to more than 400 applicants from Greek and Turkish clubs.
The payments represented the first tranche of a $16 million scheme launched last year and running up to 2022.
FIFPro estimates that about 50 clubs in 20 countries – mainly in Eastern Europe and Asia -have closed down in the last few years, leaving hundreds of players without pay.
Called the FIFA Fund for Football Players (FIFA FFP), 291 claims worth $1.36 million went to players who played for teams in Greece while almost $700,000 was paid toward 117 approved claims from Turkey.
Payouts from Asia amounted to $675,000, with most going to players from Malaysian clubs. Claims from South America added up to $565,000, and $110,000 went to players from Concacaf.
In all, FIFA said it allocated $3 million for claims in the second half of 2020 and $4 million for each of 2021 and 2022.
The approved applications covered the period between July 2015 and June 2020 and, in all, covered 109 clubs from 36 member associations.
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