Following the landmark agreement reached by FIFA and FIFPRO in 2020 to establish the FIFA Fund for Football Players (FIFA FFP), which provides financial support to players who have not been paid and have no chance of duly receiving the wages agreed with their clubs, a total of 1,005 applications have recently been approved by the joint Steering Committee. As a result, 1,005 players from around the world will receive financial relief thanks to the grants that will be issued in the first phase of the fund.

The approved applications covered the period between July 2015 and June 2020 and concerned 109 clubs from 36 member associations that have either disappeared as a result of an insolvency-related process, disaffiliated from their member association, or stopped participating in professional football.

FIFA has set aside USD 16 million for the fund up to the end of 2022, to be divided up as follows:

In accordance with the Protocol Governing the FIFA Fund for Football Players, all applications are evaluated by the joint Steering Committee composed of FIFA and FIFPRO representatives. Applications relating to the second period, covering 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020, will be processed in the coming months.

“The FIFA Fund for Football Players is a landmark mechanism designed to protect football’s main protagonists, the players. Thanks to this novel initiative and the recent conclusion of its first cycle of applications, 1,005 players will receive much-needed financial support during trying times. FIFA stands committed to maintaining this important collaboration with FIFPRO to ensure that all forthcoming application periods are administered and processed successfully towards 2022,” said Emilio García Silvero, FIFA Chief Legal & Compliance Officer.

“The FIFA Fund for Football Players is a very important support system for many players who were not paid due to their club disappearing. We are pleased that, because of the collaboration between FIFA and FIFPRO, they and their families will benefit by receiving at least a portion of the wages owed to them. At the same time, we are conscious that this only partially solves what is a much wider systemic issue. Players have filed claims with us totalling more than USD 60 million. With this in mind, we call on all football institutions around the world to follow FIFA’s example by implementing similar protection schemes in their territories,” commented Roy Vermeer, FIFPRO Legal Director.

Further details on the applications relating to the first period are available in the following report.