Overview
- FIFPro president Sergio Marchi issued a public denunciation after the global union was not invited to a FIFA meeting in Rabat on player matters, calling the practice structural discrimination.
- Marchi said promised calendar reforms never materialized, describing “endless seasons” with matches every three or fewer days, exhausting travel, and scheduling in extreme heat such as at the expanded Club World Cup in the United States.
- The union cited persistent unpaid wages and contract breaches affecting thousands of players, while warning that a basic one-year minimum contract standard dating to 2001 is still being ignored.
- FIFA’s legal chief Emilio García has countered that Marchi and FIFPro seek headlines and exclusivity, stating FIFA will speak with all interlocutors, including groups outside FIFPro.
- Clarín reported that Marchi met with Gianni Infantino and Aleksander Ceferin seeking solutions on the calendar, but neither side has announced concrete reforms or a negotiated deal.