Footballers should be released from their contracts as soon as they have gone 30 days without being paid, the world players’ union FIFPro said yesterday.
“FIFPro is negotiating a change to the regulations that would see a club sanctioned and a player entitled to terminate his contract and be free to seek employment elsewhere after 30 days of non-payment,” FIFPro said in a statement.
“The coming months will be crucial as FIFPro looks to finalise a deal on overdue payables with a target date for implementation to be no later than March 2015.”
FIFPro secretary general Theo van Seggelen said that footballers were entitled to be paid punctually, just like employees in other professions.
“Respect for contracts and treating professional footballers like any other employee in a normal workplace environment is not too much to ask,” he said.
“That is what we have on the table here, a proposal that holds clubs accountable after 30 days of non-payment.
“This is more than fair as the players are currently abused by a flawed system that effectively allows clubs to be up to 90 days in arrears before any consequences kick in.”
There have been numerous cases of players around the world having to wait months to get paid although only a few have made the headlines.
In January, Racing Santander’s players refused to challenge for the ball in a Copa del Rey match against Real Sociedad as they protested over unpaid wages.
Instead, their players stood around the centre circle, watched as Sociedad kicked off and the referee abandoned the match. Racing were later banned from this season’s competition.
In March, players at Mexican second division side Celaya appeared in a official team photograph with brown paper bags over their heads in protest at unpaid wages. They drew peso signs and the words “pay me” on the bags as they posed for the photograph while facing the directors’ box before a match against Merida.
In August, Brazilian fourth division team Gremio Barueri failed to turn up for a match in protest at unpaid wages and their opponents Operario lay down on the pitch in solidarity.
FIFPro also called on FIFA to quickly implement a promised ban on the third-party ownership (TPO) of players.
FIFA announced the ban in September and said a working group would be set up to implement it following a transitional period.
“We are acting fast to ensure the transitional period and the terms of contracts signed before or during this period do not become loopholes that substantially delay or defeat the TPO ban,” said Van Seggelen.
“We know the ban is in the overall economic interests of football.”