FIFPRO celebrates players' off-pitch impact with 2025 Merit Awards

• Each year, FIFPRO pays tribute to players giving back to their communities with the Merit Awards
• Winners of Player Activism, Player Impact and Player Voice awards revealed at FIFPRO General Assembly in Lisbon, Portugal
• Andreas Tetteh (Greece), Noemi Carage and Lena Goetsch (France), and Will Vaulks (Wales) win player awards for off-pitch endeavours

Andreas Tetteh (Greece), Noemi Carage and Lena Goetsch (France), and Will Vaulks (Wales) are the winners of the 2025 FIFPRO Merit Awards.

Each year, FIFPRO celebrates footballers who make a positive impact off the field through the Merit Awards, recognising their outstanding contributions to society in three categories: Activism, Impact, and Voice.

Player Activism Award: Andreas Tetteh – for bringing about political or social change.

Player Impact Award: Noemi Carage and Lena Goetsch – for creating impact in the lives of others.

Player Voice Award: Will Vaulks – for highlighting an issue and influencing change.

The winners were revealed at the 2025 FIFPRO General Assembly in Lisbon, Portugal.

Player Activism: Andreas Tetteh

Greece international Andreas Tetteh, a striker for Greek Super League team AE Kifisia who will move to Panathinaikos in January, is the winner of the 2025 Player Activism Award. Tetteh, who has Ghanian and Sierra Leonean roots, became the anti-racism ambassador for the Greek player union PSAPP in March 2025.

Having faced racist abuse during his career, Tetteh promotes diversity and inclusion, speaking in schools, collaborating with NGOs, and raising awareness through Greek media as a powerful voice against discrimination.

Tetteh said: "It’s validating to be recognised by FIFPRO with the Player Activism Award because it proves my message is spreading, and winning the award will help amplify it even more. I am a person who has been through a lot in life, and my experiences drive me into sharing the messages and supporting the causes that will inspire real change. While I will never stop, having our work recognised is still a welcome encouragement.

"I say our work, because I couldn’t have got this far without PSAPP, who really listened to me and gave me the platform to create the change I wanted to see in the game. My family, friends and team-mates, some of whom have also experienced racism first-hand, have supported me. It’s been a collective effort."

Player Impact: Noemie Carage and Lena Goetsch

Noemie Carage (Dijon FCO) and Lena Goetsch (FC Fleury) are the winners of the 2025 FIFPRO Player Impact Award, an accolade recognising initiatives that create a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Carage and Goetsch founded Tous Au Foot (Football For All) when both were at French club Dijon in 2022. The initiative gives youth and adults with disabilities the chance to play football twice a week.

The pair personally support the programme by joining the football sessions and by partnering with sponsors to host inclusive events, including an annual tournament that now welcomes around 100 players.

Goetsch said: "We are immensely proud to be recognised at a global level by FIFPRO. Although there are two of us being honoured, we cannot help but share this award with all those who have made it possible for Tous Au Foot to be recognised in this way."

Carage said: "With Tous Au Foot, we are showing that football is accessible to everyone. And we would love for our initiative in Dijon to inspire other clubs and players to set up facilities for people with disabilities."

Player Voice: Will Vaulks

Oxford United and Wales midfielder Will Vaulks has been recognised with the 2025 FIFPRO Player Voice Award. Vaulks lost both of his grandfathers to suicide, just a year apart from each other.

In 2022 he became an ambassador for Baton of Hope, the UK’s largest suicide-awareness initiative, using his own experiences to encourage meaningful discourse around both mental health and bereavement. Vaulks also helped launch the Can We Talk? campaign with Oxford United in 2024 and has earned PFA Community Awards at three different clubs for his commitment to supporting others.

Vaulks said: "As a footballer in the public eye, I feel both the responsibility and the opportunity to reach as many people as possible. I don't want families to go through what my family had been through, and that grieving process has been what drives my passion to raise the awareness needed to bring suicide numbers down.

"That’s why being recognised with the FIFPRO Player Voice Award means so much to me. My family and I feel so proud to have our work recognised by such a global organisation because it shows just how far our voice has travelled. It gives us a speakerphone to be heard even louder, and it motivates me to keep fighting for change."

French player association wins Union Impact Award

As well as applauding the work of players making a difference via the Merit Awards, the Union Impact Award was bestowed to the player association that has launched the most inspiring initiative to improve the wellbeing of professional footballers in their country. The player unions of France, Greece and Portugal were the three finalists for the 2025 Union Impact Award and member unions in Lisbon voted to decide the winner.

French player union UNFP was selected as the winner for their Solidarity Committee initiative. UNFP created a Solidarity Committee of nine active and former players – led by Robert Pires – to oversee a €500,000 fund supporting player-led initiatives. Focused on social aid, career development and community projects, the committee has already examined 100 proposals and funded 50, directly improving the lives of players and their communities.

How were the Merit Awards and Union Impact Award nominees selected?

All nominees for the 2025 FIFPRO Merit Awards and 2025 Union Impact Award were chosen by a selection committee representing FIFPRO’s global network and partners. The committee included regional division representatives Terry Ouko (Africa), Steven Bryce (Central and North America), Gamadiel Garcia (South America), Izham Ismail (Asia/Oceania), and Mila Hristova (Europe), alongside Erica Puppo (FIFPRO EDI Manager), Chinyelu Asher (Jamaica international), Johanna Omolo (2019 Merit Award Winner), and Diana Maggiore (International Trade Union Confederation).

Together, they reviewed union initiatives worldwide to identify the projects making the strongest impact on players and their communities.