FIFPRO Europe meets European Commission on ‘quality jobs’ agenda in professional football

FIFPRO Europe has met senior officials at the European Commission to discuss employment conditions in professional football, as player unions push to harden minimum standards and protect collective bargaining structures across the game.The talks were held with the Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG Employment) and included representatives from the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), according to FIFPRO.FIFPRO Europe said the meeting focused on “employment matters and the advancement of quality jobs” in the European professional football industry, which it described as the largest employment market for professional footballers.The player union body said discussions covered how football can maintain and strengthen employment standards while remaining competitive globally, including minimum requirements around occupational health and safety, contractual protections and player welfare.FIFPRO Europe also used the meeting to highlight concerns over activities it said were designed to undermine freedom of association and legitimate player representation, framing the issue as a labour rights matter under EU law and international conventions.Both delegations committed to promote social dialogue and social partner agreements as the appropriate framework for addressing employment conditions in professional football, FIFPRO said, reinforcing the role of recognised representative bodies in setting workplace rules.The meeting referenced recent sectoral guidelines for sport published by the International Labour Organization, which emphasise the right to organise, the centrality of collective bargaining and occupational health and safety as a priority area, FIFPRO said.The discussion also touched on the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Professional Football, chaired by UEFA, with participants noting the committee’s development under its current workplan.  FIFPRO said the delegations welcomed the recent announcement that a FIFPRO Europe representative will join the UEFA Executive Committee, describing it as a landmark step towards more inclusive governance.FIFPRO Europe and Commission officials also agreed that employment and labour relations should feature prominently in the European Commission’s upcoming Communication on Sport, which is being led by Commissioner Glenn Micallef and DG EAC.The engagement underlines a growing push by player unions to position employment standards as a core governance issue, alongside integrity and competition formats, as football’s business model becomes more international and regulatory scrutiny around workplace rights increases.