Welfare of footballers and commercial investment in focus at EU Sport Forum

A delegation from FIFPRO Europe was present at the EU Sport Forum in Krakow, Poland on 10-11 April. Held annually, the EU Sport Forum is the European Commission’s flagship event shaping discussions around sport at the European level.

Glenn Micallef, European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, in his opening speech spoke about the importance of protecting athletes. The European Commission will launch a document on strategic communication on sport, planned for 2026.

Commissioner Micallef said: "This document will politically define our approach to sport in Europe to tackle challenges together, such as the decreasing number of volunteers, affordability of participating in and following sport, and the heavy calendar of competitions for our athletes having impact on their physical and mental wellbeing."

FIFPRO Europe President David Terrier welcomed Micallef’s remarks. Terrier said: "For FIFPRO Europe, it is reassuring to see Commissioner Micallef's commitment to a transformative sport policy agenda that includes social dialogue and athlete welfare as core features of the European Sport Model.

"While sporting merit and open competitions remain central to this model, we must incorporate EU legal frameworks—including labour law, occupational safety and health regulations, and competition law—into our sector's governance.

"We communicated this to the Commissioner during our recent meeting and anticipate strategic initiatives that will strengthen Europe's football industry by enhancing both its competitiveness and resilience—priorities that align with our sector's long-term sustainability needs and the European Commission's broader economic and social agenda."

Rights and wellbeing of athletes

A FIFPRO-commissioned report published in November 2024 by Belgian University KU Leuven said that the professional football sector is failing in its duty to apply required safety standards for players and, as a result, is violating existing legal frameworks at a European and global level.

FIFPRO Europe and European Leagues, representing European player unions and national leagues, filed a complaint to the European Commission in October 2024 against FIFA over its conduct concerning the imposition of the International Match Calendar, including decisions relating to the Club World Cup.

Illustrating how player rights are coming under increasing scrutiny, a panel titled ‘Rights and Wellbeing of Athletes’ explored many of the core aspects around this issue, including the increasingly demanding performance standards athletes face, alongside overcrowded competitive schedules, which lead to significant mental and physical strain.

Michael Sahl Hansen, director of Danish player union Spillerforeningen, talked about the knock-on effect of competition expansion on domestic markets such as Denmark. Sahl Hansen alluded to some of the key findings in FIFPRO’s Men’s Player Workload Report, including the fact that Vinicius Junior had by the age of 24 more than doubled the number of appearances of Ronaldinho at the same age (369 appearances for the former, 163 for the latter). 

Sahl Hansen said: "It all comes down to institutionalising the players’ voice – when the players are listened to and integrated into decision-making, the result is always better than when they are sidelined."

Meanwhile, Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO's Director of Global Policy for Men's Football, spoke on the panel titled 'Foreign Investments in European Football' alongside other European football stakeholders.

"Foreign investment in European football is a reality at club, league, and media levels that is here to stay," said Bielefeld. "While this reflects the strength of an attractive and competitive entertainment industry that functions both within Europe and globally, it also presents new regulatory challenges."

He emphasised that the major concern is when these investments operate outside the European social framework for sport. "The risks are clear—prioritisation of commercial interests over athlete health, national employment, and local community development."