Clubs show a terrifying lack of respect for players, warns FIFPro

By Andrew Warshaw

February 8 – The global union for professional players, FIFPro, has called on FIFA and UEFA to heed their calls to make sure players in some countries are paid on time by their clubs or risk a potential strike.

FIFPro said clubs were showing a “terrifying lack of respect” for the fundamental rights of professionals, including withholding wages.

Poland and Ukraine, who are jointly staging the 2012 European Championships, are among the financial culprits.

By refusing to pay players, FIFPro said, clubs were directly pushing them towards match fixing as a way of financial survival.

Unpaid wages is one of the highlights of a startling new report that throws fresh light on match fixing, described by FIFPro as a “massive wake-up call”.

The report showed that almost a quarter of players questioned are aware of match fixing in their particular league, much of it directly linked with unpaid wages.

The so-called FIFPro Black Book, a bulky report focussing on eastern and southern Europe, was conducted by a special FIFPro Task Force following complaints from players about how they were being treated by their clubs, national associations and so-called ‘supporters’.

Both main governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA, had failed to address the problem, said FIFPro, warning the ultimate response could be to pull out of European competitions including the Champions League.

“To organise a strike internationally is of course difficult but why should we not show the world if they don’t change the situation,” said FIFPro secretary general Theo van Seggelen (pictured).

The survey covered 3,357 players in 12 eastern European nations and found that 41.4 per cent did not get paid on time, with five per cent having to wait six months or more.

“A player who has to wait for his money has a greater chance of being approached to manipulate a match,” the study claimed.

“What’s more, he is vulnerable.”

More than half of those who were approached did not have their wages paid on time, with almost 12 per cent of them saying they had been approached to manipulate a match, that figure rising to a staggering 43.5 per cent in 2018 World Cup hosts Russia.

Although professional footballers are widely viewed as affluent and extravagant, FIFPro said fans were often blinded by general perceptions and failed to realise that many players in some parts of Europe may find it tough to pay mortgages and other expenses.

The study indicated that 42.9 per cent of players do not get paid on time in Poland.

In its Euro 2012 co-host Ukraine, the figure was 15.5 per cent.

“As long as Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid and Juventus are all doing well, unfortunately the glare of publicity does not shine on parts of the world where there are major problems,” said FIFPro board member Tony Higgins (pictured).

While UEFA and FIFA have made the fight against match fixing a top priority, they were doing little to ensure players were paid on time, he charged.

“In the east, players regularly discover they are not paid by their clubs and then find themselves being targeted by corrupt influences,” Higgins said.

“They are vulnerable.

“It’s a massive wake-up call for football.”

Withdrawing salaries was not the only offence.

Almost 12 per cent of players questioned were victims of violence, one third of those inflicted by their own clubs according to the report.

And 9.6 per cent of respondents in the survey reported examples of racism or other forms of discrimination, mainly caused by supporters.

The union highlighted recent incidents in Russia where a Montenegrin player Nikola Nikezić said he was beaten into terminating his contract with FC Kuban.

“What these players meet is unbelievable,” Higgins said.

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