FIFPRO Asia/Oceania assembly in Sydney puts partnerships at centre of regional growth agenda

Player unions from across Asia and Oceania gathered in Sydney this week for FIFPRO Asia/Oceania’s annual General Assembly, with discussions focused on building stronger working relationships with confederations, federations and leagues.The meeting, hosted with Professional Footballers Australia, brought together representatives from the division’s 10 member unions alongside observer unions, local stakeholders and senior FIFPRO leadership.The assembly ran alongside the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia, using the tournament as a live backdrop for conversations on player welfare, commercial growth and governance standards in the women’s game.FIFPRO Asia/Oceania secretary general Shoko Tsuji said: "Across the past 12 months, FIFPRO Asia/Oceania has continued to make important progress in supporting and representing thousands of professional footballers across a diverse and complex region. "Despite challenges, Asia and Oceania’s players are prepared to engage actively as partners in the game’s governance. To address many of the challenges players face, we need an ecosystem that views each stakeholder as interconnected and central to the overall game’s success.“Women’s football is the fastest-growing frontier in Asia and Oceania. However, the gap in standards remains wide, with many of the players in this tournament earning less than US$30,000 annually and fewer than 40% being full-time professionals.“We firmly believe the Women’s Asian Cup, which continues to break and set new records, represents a crucial opportunity to transform the game throughout this region, but that can only be achieved through a genuine partnership with the AFC."One of the central talking points was a pre-tournament research report on the commercial opportunity of the Women’s Asian Cup, backed by a letter signed by players from seven of the 12 competing nations inviting the AFC into a more structured partnership approach.The agenda also covered tournament-time player services and the rollout of a player-voted Team of the Tournament initiative, positioning player voice as part of competition storytelling and engagement.Beyond the Women’s Asian Cup, the assembly highlighted union support provided to Indian footballers during the country’s recent professional league disruption, as well as a cooperation agreement between FIFPRO Asia/Oceania and FIFPRO Africa.Representation was another theme, with expanded Asia/Oceania presence on FIFPRO’s Global Player Council presented as a route to influence on scheduling, welfare and standards at international level.FIFPRO Asia/Oceania president Beau Busch said: “FIFPRO Asia/Oceania remains focused on building the capacity of player associations across this region and the pursuit of strategic partnerships with the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation. We believe those partnerships will deliver better outcomes for the players and the game.“By establishing effective partnerships, we can better safeguard players’ interests, promote a sustainable football ecosystem and create growth opportunities. This General Assembly has served to further illustrate the challenges facing our industry, and the immense opportunities, which we are determined to play a proactive role in realising.”The programme included a panel on partnership models featuring Football Australia chair Anter Isaac and Women’s Leagues Forum board secretary Moya Dodd, with collective bargaining and league-player alignment referenced as benchmarks for the region.FIFPRO secretary general Alex Phillips also pointed to newer forms of structured collaboration in the global game, including recent recognition agreements involving UEFA and CONMEBOL, as examples of what can be achieved through formalised stakeholder engagement.