FIFPRO holds inaugural Organising Workshop in Australia

FIFPRO brought together player representatives and union staff from across the globe for its inaugural Organising Workshop in the Blue Mountains, Australia, on 11-13 March, strengthening the organisation’s global capacity-building work.

Developed by FIFPRO’s Union and Player Relations team, the three-day Organising Workshop delivered intensive professional development designed to strengthen unions’ ability to reach, mobilise and represent players at national and international levels. 

The Blue Mountains workshop brought together over 50 participants from FIFPRO member associations and other global unions, such as World Players Association, and was supported by 10 experienced organising coaches from countries including Australia, USA, France, Germany and Pakistan.

By convening participants from diverse football and industrial relations contexts, the workshop focused on collaboration and knowledge sharing across regions, reinforcing FIFPRO’s commitment to building strong, connected and effective player unions worldwide.

The workshop focused on equipping participants with practical organising tools, drawing on proven community organising and leadership frameworks, adapted specifically for football.

Participants explored how to build collective power, develop leadership structures, strengthen public narrative skills, and turn shared values into meaningful action for players.

Delivered in partnership between FIFPRO and the Center for Social Innovation in Developing Countries (CSIDC), the workshop allowed participants to examine how personal stories, shared purpose and strategic leadership can drive change within player associations and across the global game.

"As a players’ association, organising sits at the core of our work," FIFPRO’s Director of Union and Player Relations Benjamin van den Broek said. "But organising is not easy. It often happens under challenging circumstances. There is uncertainty and organising is difficult work.

"What we have done across these three days is brought in all member unions, and focused on organising, on leadership, relationship building, but also shared values, and how can we take action that actually creates change, that makes impact."

Player representatives from across Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Americas and Europe were involved in the Workshop. MLSPA’s Executive Director Bob Foose welcomed the opportunity to reflect on how unions engage players.

"I think taking a step back and thinking about the most basic pieces of organising is critical,” Foose said. “No matter where you are or where your union is in the process, you can always learn something by stepping back to the beginning by questioning or at least not fully accepting that everything you do is as it should be, leaving yourself open to change and to learning new things.

"You can learn those new things from far bigger unions; you can just as easily learn them from unions who are just getting started."

The Organising Workshop formed part of a major month of FIFPRO activity in New South Wales, Australia, alongside the FIFPRO Asia/Oceania General Assembly (9-10 March) and the FIFPRO Women’s Football Summit (15-16 March) in Sydney.

FIFPRO Asia/Oceania’s Secretary General Shoko Tsuji said the Organising Workshop would strengthen many of the unions in attendance.

"It's been great to spend three days together in the Blue Mountains for our division, especially, where we often face challenges when it comes to organising players," Tsuji said.

"It's been a great opportunity to build the capacity of our member unions to learn how we can connect better with our players, how we can find a shared story, shared purpose that will help organise and mobilise players across the region.

"A lot of the principles we are learning over these three days can be applied universally. I hope that each one of us can take this home, see how we can apply this to our dressing room visits and our conversations with players. And hopefully that will strengthen our individual and collective capacity."