FIFA gets financial assistance application from over 400 players

Over four hundred players, the bulk of them based in Europe, have applied for financial assistance under a scheme set up by world governing body FIFA.

There have been 441 applications so far to the FIFA Fund for Football Players (FFP), claiming unpaid wages from clubs.

89% of those who applied were with clubs in Europe, with the remaining 11% in other parts of the world.

Players can apply until the end of June via world players’ union FIFPRO.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino set aside £12.3m to help players who go unpaid between 2020 and 2022.

A further £3.8m has been set aside for players who went unpaid between 2015 and 2020.

The funds, dubbed Fund for Football players (FFP) which were set-up in February this year before football’s global shutdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic, are designed to help players whose clubs go out of business to avoid paying wages and are then quickly reformed, giving previous employees no chance to reclaim what they are owed.