Italian Footballers Association backs FIFPro claims against Club World Cup | OneFootball

AIC, the Italian Footballers Association, backs FIFPro’s claims against the Club World Cup and urges FIFA to ‘engage in serious and transparent dialogue with the players’ associations.’

The Italian Footballers Association has backed FIFPro in their claims against the Club World Cup and an increasingly packed fixture list that is putting the players’ “health and rights” under threat.

AIC ‘fully supports’ FIFPro claims

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – JULY 01: Igor Tudor, Head Coach of Juventus FC, speaks to Manuel Locatelli #5 and Michele Di Gregorio #29 of Juventus FC during a hydration break during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 round of 16 match between Real Madrid CF and Juventus FC at Hard Rock Stadium on July 01, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

“AIC fully supports the critical stance expressed by FIFPro President Sergio Marchi regarding FIFA’s organisation of the new Club World Cup and, more broadly, the international games schedule,” AIC said in a statement.

“We reaffirm the need to protect players’ health and rights, and we urge FIFA to engage in serious and transparent dialogue with the players’ associations represented by FIFPro.”

Sergio Marchi, President of FIFPro, had strongly criticised FIFA after the Club World Cup Final between Chelsea and PSG.

FIFPro statement against Club World Cup

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – JUNE 26: Pep Guardiola, Head Coach of Manchester City, speaks with the team during a hydration break during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group G match between Juventus FC and Manchester City FC at Camping World Stadium on June 26, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

“Although the recent FIFA Club World Cup generated enthusiasm among many supporters and allowed some of the biggest names in world football to be seen in the same tournament, FIFPRO cannot fail to point out, with absolute clarity, that this competition hides a dangerous disconnection with the true reality that most footballers around the world are going through,” Marchi said.

“What was presented as a global festival of football was nothing more than a fiction staged by FIFA, driven by its president, without dialogue, without sensitivity and without respect for those who sustain the game with their daily efforts. A grandiloquent staging that inevitably recalls the “bread and circuses” of Nero’s Rome, entertainment for the masses while behind the curtain the inequality, precariousness and lack of protection of the real protagonists deepens.

“Most of the world’s footballers do not receive their full salary, play only a few months of the year, and do so without minimum guarantees of stability, medical coverage or decent working conditions. This reality was completely ignored by FIFA, which chose to continue to increase its income at the expense of the body and health of the players.

“The tournament also took place under unacceptable conditions, with matches being played in extremely hot weather and at temperatures that put the physical integrity of the players at risk. This situation must not only be denounced, but must also be strongly condemned. Under no circumstances must this happen again at next year’s FIFA World Cup.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – JUNE 30: Stefan de Vrij #6 of FC Internazionale Milano reacts to a missed attempt on goal during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 round of 16 match between FC Internazionale Milano and Fluminense FC at Bank of America Stadium on June 30, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

“From FIFPRO we have been warning about the saturation of the calendar, the lack of physical and mental rest for the players, and the lack of dialogue on the part of FIFA. This way of organising tournaments, without listening to the federation that brings together player associations worldwide, is unilateral, authoritarian and based solely on a logic of economic profitability, not human sustainability.

“You can no longer play with the health of footballers to feed a marketing machine. No spectacle is possible if the voice of the protagonists is turned off.

“From FIFPRO we reiterate our commitment, we will firmly defend every right, we will denounce every abuse, and we will demand FIFA to adopt a truly inclusive policy, which respects the integrity of footballers and places them at the centre of every decision.”