Fifa heats up battle with players’ union Fifpro by sidelining it from welfare talks

Fifa is to press ahead with plans to develop new proposals for protecting player welfare without consulting the international trade union Fifpro, in a move that will intensify a long-simmering dispute between the two bodies.

A meeting of the Fifa Professional Players Consultation Forum has been scheduled in Rabat, Morocco, for this Saturday, with the player unions of several nations invited, but not Fifpro, which represents more than 65,000 members and 72 national unions, including England’s Professional Footballers’ Association.

According to the invitation sent out by Fifa to “representatives of football players from around the world” the Rabat meeting will address “key issues facing players in the modern game”. The invitation also states that the cost of flights and accommodation will be covered by Fifa.

Sources close to the governing body say Fifa believes it has a responsibility to move forward with drafting new welfare protocols. Its decision to proceed without involving the global body representing the interests of players comes after Fifpro last year made a complaint to the European Commission over an alleged lack of consultation from Fifa over the introduction of the Club World Cup. That process is ongoing.

The situation worsened after Fifa held a meeting in New York during the Club World Cup on the topic of player welfare, inviting some national unions but not Fifpro. The president of Fifpro, Sergio Marchi, went on to publicly criticise Fifa over what it regarded as a lack of protection for players at the tournament.

Gianni Infantino and Fifpro’s Sergio Marchi share an awkward embrace. Photograph: Eva Marie Uzcategui/FIFA/Getty Images

Marchi described the Club World Cup as “reminiscent of the ‘bread and circuses’ of Nero’s Rome” and said: “What was presented as a global celebration of football was nothing more than a fiction created by Fifa, promoted by its president, without dialogue, sensitivity and respect for those who sustain the game with their daily efforts”.

In response, Fifa accused Fifpro’s leadership of “not really caring about the players” and of having pursued “a path of public confrontation driven by artificial PR battles”. It demanded the union publish its “full financial reports” to “ensure that what is being preached is also being practised”, suggesting that only then would the union be invited “to return to the negotiating table”.

Fifpro has suspended members who attended the New York meeting and it is understood some of these officials will be in attendance in Rabat. “We are surprised to learn Fifa has again called player representatives to a meeting without inviting Fifpro,” a Fifpro statement said.