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.
2. What is the FIFA Fund
for Football Players?
How does the FIFA
Fund for Football
Players work?
FIFA Fund for
Football Players
2
The FIFA Fund for Football Players is a joint project between FIFA and FIFPRO.
With the revision of the FIFA Disciplinary Code in 2019, FIFA bolstered the
framework for dealing with the non-payment of players’ wages, particu-
larly in situations featuring so-called sporting successors of debtor clubs.
In this context and as an additional tool to fight back against this unfair sit-
uation, the FIFA Fund for Football Players was launched, coming into effect
in mid-2020. The main goal of the fund is to provide financial support to
those players who have not been paid and have no chance of duly receiving
their outstanding wages due to the disappearance of their respective clubs.
This pioneering initiative is administered and managed by FIFA, which, in
cooperation with FIFPRO, oversees the various components and stages of
the project.
More information about the FIFA Fund for Football Players can be found
on legal.fifa.com.
FIFA has set aside USD 16 million for the fund for the period up to the
end of 2022, an allocation which has been divided across four periods as
illustrated in the table below:
This report presents a brief analysis of the applications for the period
between July 2015 and June 2020 (period 1), for which analyses and
joint decisions were made by FIFA and FIFPRO in recent months.
With decisions concerning the remaining applications for 2020 (period
2) due in the coming weeks, applications for 2021 and 2022 can be
submitted in the months ahead via ffp.fifa.com.
Period Amount
1 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2020 USD 5 million
2 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020 USD 3 million
3 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021 USD 4 million
4 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 USD 4 million
3. Assessment of
applications
FIFA Fund for
Football Players
3
The FIFA Fund for Football Players is governed by the FIFA Fund for
Football Players Protocol, which outlines and stipulates the regulations
of the fund.
All applications for a grant are analysed on a case-by-case basis to determine
their eligibility and to check that an applicant has in fact exhausted
all legal avenues available and has been left with no other means of
receiving outstanding salaries as a result of the disappearance of a club.
For each application period, all screened applications are evaluated by a
purposefully established Steering Committee composed of FIFA and FIFPRO
representatives, who make all decisions regarding eligibility for a grant.
While grants provided under the mechanism of the fund will not cover the
full amount of salaries owed to players, the fund provides an important
safety net for players all around the world. In addition, payments to
approved applicants of the FIFA Fund for Football Players do not in any
way extinguish the overall and existing debts of clubs listed as part of
applications.
The FIFA Fund for Football Players agreement in collaboration with FIFPRO is
a clear reflection of how FIFA interprets its role as world football’s governing
body, underlining its commitment to help and reach out to those in need,
especially within the football community, starting with the players who are
the game’s principal figures.
4. Overview of FIFA Fund for Football Players applications
(Period 1 / July 2015 – June 2020)
Facts and figures – FIFA Fund for Football Players
(Period 1 / July 2015 – June 2020)
FIFA Fund for
Football Players
USD 5m
FUND
ALLOCATION
1089
NO. OF APPLICATIONS
RECEIVED
1005
NO. OF APPROVED
APPLICANTS
109
NO. OF
AFFECTED CLUBS
36
NO. OF AFFECTED
MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS
4 4 1 1 3 1 4 1
4
1 3 1 3 1 2 2 1 1 1 4 2 2
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bolivia
Bulgaria
Cameroon
Chile
China
Ecuador
El
Salvador
England
France
Greece
Guatemala
Hong
Kong
India
Iran
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
Maldives
Mexico
Moldova
Panama
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
Uruguay
Venezuela
0
50
100
150
200
250
300 291
25
8 5
41
15 17
7
147
48
65 69
138
9
76
17
26 42
No. of applications (per affected member association)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
CAF Concacaf CONMEBOL UEFA
1
AFC
45
150
706
187
No. of applications (per affected confederation)
4
5. Overview of approved FIFA Fund for Football Players applications
(Period 1 / July 2015 – June 2020)
4 4 1 3 1 4 1
4
3 1 3 1 2 2 1 1 4 2 2
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bolivia
Bulgaria
Cameroon
Chile
China
Ecuador
El
Salvador
England
France
Greece
Guatemala
Hong
Kong
India
Iran
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
Maldives
Mexico
Moldova
Panama
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
Uruguay
Venezuela
2
0
50
100
150
200
250
300 291
25
8
40
15 14
6
147
48
65 67
117
9
43
17
26 25
Overview of approved applications (per affected member association)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Turkey
117
Russia
67
Romania
65
Portugal
48
Uruguay
43
Guatemala
40
Peru
26
Bolivia
25
Malaysia
147
Greece
291
Top 10 approved applications (per affected member association)
5
FIFA Fund for
Football Players
6. FIFA Fund for
Football Players
Payment distribution breakdown for
FIFA Fund for Football Players applications
(Period 1 / July 2015 – June 2020)
Breakdown of fund distribution
(USD 5m)
Top 10 affected member associations (in USD)
UEFA - USD 3.65 million
AFC - USD 675k
CONMEBOL - USD 565k
Concacaf - USD 110k
UEFA
3.65m
AFC
675k
CONMEBOL
565k
Concacaf
110k
0 500000 1000000 1500000
Greece
Turkey
Russia
Malaysia
Romania
Portugal
Bolivia
Uruguay
Peru
Guatemala
1360301
692381
566253
456214
409298
181191
172649
132898
132898
196928
6