The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has announced plans to set aside £12.4m ($16m) to assist players who have not been paid by their clubs. The initiative is said to cover pay up until 2022 and will also have a monitoring committee. The committee will have global players union FIFPro, who will attend to the needs of players.
However, the new initiative won’t pay players in full but rather offer ”safety net” FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday.
The FIFA president Gianni Infantino said, ”the governing body wanted to show their commitment to helping players in a difficult situation.”
Speaking on the new project Infantino said: “We are here to reach out to those in need, especially within the football community, and that starts with the players, who are the key figures in our game.”
FIFA has already put aside a budget of £2.3m for the second half of this year and have plans of putting aside a budget of £3m in both 2021 and 2022. A separate £3.8m is currently available for ongoing cases of unpaid salaries from July 2015 to June 2020.
“More than 50 clubs in 20 countries have shut in the last five years, plunging hundreds of footballers into uncertainty and hardship,” FIFPro president Philippe Piat said.
“This fund will provide valuable support to those players and families most in need. Many of these clubs have shut to avoid paying outstanding wages, immediately re-forming as so-called new clubs.”
This new project is expected to come into operation on 1 July 2020.
Meanwhile, in a new FIFA transport report, the ”big 5” accounted for almost three-quarters of global spending in January 2020. The ”big 5” consists of clubs from England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
“All in all, spending by clubs of the Big 5 leagues seems to continue on the general growth path of the past years, playing a central role in the global transfer market. It is FIFA’s duty to carefully monitor and report on those activities, providing greater transparency to the transfer system,” said FIFA Chief Legal Officer Emilio García.
The report also gives details on transfer types, origin and destination transfers. The report gives historical comparisons with past registration as well.
