Have you ever wondered how clubs can claim wages from Fifa when players get injured on international duties? The world football governing body has an insurance policy tagged the FIFA Club Protection Programme (CPP) which cater to the injury risk of players who have been invited to play for their national teams.
Based on this programme, Fifa will be responsible for the wages of the players who are invited by their national teams for a match under the FIFA calendar but got injured while training with the national team or during an international match. The compensation FIFA will pay to the club will last as long as the injury lasts and as long as the player involved is still contracted to the club.
However, players who can enjoy this privilege are players who are exclusively trained and paid for by the clubs. FIFA will not be responsible for a player who is already injured before he was invited by his/her national team except such a player gets injured in another part of his/her body.
Besides that, The maximum compensation FIFA can give to a club under this programme is €7.5 million per player which is usually paid within the first 30 days of the injury.
This implies that the CPP enables clubs to claim wages from Fifa which could worth at most €143,836 per week. The amount clubs can claim from FIFA is determined by the player’s wages during the period he/she suffered a temporary total disablement (TTD) but can’t exceed FIFA’s benchmark.
The total annual budget put aside by FIFA for the CPP is €100 million.
The programme which commenced in 2012 has built a more cordial relationship between football clubs and domestic football associations. This is so because the clubs are more willing to release their players for FIFA recognized matches since there is an assurance that the clubs will get compensated by FIFA if their players suffer a TTD as a result of bodily injuries caused by an accident during training or the match proper.
However, the FIFA Club Protection Programme (CPP) does not provide any compensation for sickness; permanent total disablement, death, or any costs of medical treatment. The compensation is centered strictly on the regular wages of the player; it does not include bonuses and other financial benefits of the player.
How Clubs can claim wages (compensation) from Fifa when players get injured on International Duties
The world football governing body has ensured its obligation under the FIFA Club Protection Programme (CPP) with recognized international insurers and will pay compensation after it has received indemnification from the insurers. FIFA will provide compensation only to the extent that it receives indemnification from the insurers. The international third-party administrator QuestGates, based in the UK, will perform the claims handling directly with football clubs.
At its discretion, FIFA may assign rights of its insurance policy related to a specific loss to football clubs directly. The football clubs are obliged to accept such an assignment and consequently waive all further rights against FIFA.
A football club will not be able to claim wages from Fifa if the club does not agree to these arrangements and procedures.
Loss-handling and adjustment process clubs must follow before they can claim wages from FIFA
i) Loss instructions
The following procedures must be followed by the football club(s) so that claims can be processed properly.
Details of the accident causing injury to the football player must be sent to QuestGates by the football club within 28 days of the accident at the latest.
Any claims or losses following accidents reported later than this period will be rejected
Following an accident, notification should be sent immediately to QuestGates.
For this purpose, QuestGates has established a web-based application for the
notification of accidents:
https://qubeconnex.questgates-portal.co.uk/addmyclaim?id=FIFA
When a user visits the “addmyclaim” web page, they will be presented with two options:
• Create a new claim
• Send documentation for an existing claim
ii) Step 1: Claim notification
After logging on to the QuestGates portal, the football club will be asked to:
• Select the preferred language (English, French, German or Spanish);
• Read the data privacy notice;
• Provide details of who is submitting the claim, the football player involved, and the details of the accident.
The football club will be able to upload an unlimited number of documents/photos (including DICOM files) up to 50MB in size.
At a minimum, these documents should include the following details:
• An initial medical certificate is written by the association’s doctor
• Any hospital reports, emergency ward reports, MRI scans, X-rays,
rehabilitation programmes and other medical documentation that is available
• The name and contact details of the association doctor and club doctor
At the bottom of the “addmyclaim” web page, there will be a “Submit Claim” button, which creates the claim and displays the message:
“Your claim has been created successfully. Please note the two references below to allow you to provide additional documentation later if required.
“Case Reference xxxxxxxx
Access Code ABCD1234″
If you have documentation in connection with this claim,
please upload one document at a time. If there are no further
documents, please close your web browser
The Case Reference should be quoted in all future communication with QuestGates, which should be sent to their dedicated email address: [email protected]
iii) Step 2: claim assessment
The QuestGates portal will collate all of the football club’s information into a
secure document for review and processing by the specialist claims-handling team.
QuestGates will respond to the football club, represented by a designated
a senior football club official, and may require additional information, including
but not limited to:
• An examination and assessment of the injured football player by a medical-legal specialist appointed by QuestGates. Follow-up assessments may be required and QuestGates will notify the football club should this be the case;
• Production of all medical documentation such as reports, certificates, examinations, test results, and scans relating to the injury. Relevant MRI, CT, X-ray reports and scans/images should be taken within ten days of the date of the accident and include the football player’s name and date
of birth.
All scans/images shall be in a quality allowing evaluation by the
medical examiner. QuestGates will advise the football club as to what documentation is required and at what stage in the loss-assessment process;
• The injured football player’s historical medical records. QuestGates will advise the football club as to what documentation is required and at what
stage in the loss-assessment process;
• Details of all treatment (medical and rehabilitation) received by the
injured football player. QuestGates will advise the football club as to
what documentation is required and at what stage in the loss-assessment process;
• Proof of salary and social security charges paid (this must be evidenced in particular through a copy of the signed employment contract of the player, pay slips, and social security charges calculation);
• All documents shall be provided in English, German, French, or Spanish.
QuestGates may disclose, as far as it is necessary, all information provided to its appointed medical-legal specialist and other third parties involved in the assessment of the claim.
The football club will be contacted by QuestGates once the loss has been processed and informed of the result of the procedures.
By the conditions governing the FIFA Club Protection the programme, the injured football player, the representatives of his football club, and the representatives of the associations are expected and required to cooperate fully with FIFA, QuestGates, medical advisers, and any other party involved in the investigation and processing of claims (see “Conditions
the precedent”).
QuestGates will base the loss assessment upon the accident circumstances as reported by the club. QuestGates may conduct inquiries into the accident
circumstances and request further information and documentation from the association or the football club. Lack of cooperation will result in a claim being rejected.
Confirmation of loss compensation will be provided:
• if the 28 consecutive days excess period has elapsed;
• if the accident occurred within the “operative time” and the loss is not
subject to any exclusions (see “Extent of compensation” section);
• if the amount of the loss is proven; and
• subject to all terms and conditions of the FIFA Club Protection Programme.
If the loss is rejected, the football club will be notified in writing with an explanation of the reasons for this decision. If further explanation is required, QuestGates is available to discuss this with the football club. If the football club wishes to dispute the decision, it must inform FIFA immediately.
v) Step 3: payment to the football club
Compensation is due every month within 30 days of agreement of the loss. Before the payment being processed by QuestGates, the football club will be required to sign a Form of Discharge. This will record details of the payment(s) to be made. The football club will be required to provide details of the bank account to which payment is to be made by electronic bank transfer.
Evidence will be required of the bank account in the form of a letter from the football club providing the bank account details signed by a duly authorized officer of the football club and/or a letter from the banking institution where the account is held, confirming the account details.
Payment will only be made to an account in the name of the football club. No payments will be made to individuals.
Compensation will be paid by FIFA to the football club(s) after FIFA has received the indemnification from the insurers
Football clubs must notify QuestGates immediately when the injured football player can resume (date of recovery) his usual training regime, and/or participate in matches, irrespective of whether fixed
terms of matches and training exist or not. The football club shall also notify QuestGates if the football club ceases or changes salary payments to the football player.
