Introduction to the Journal
Dear football friends,
Welcome to the first edition of the FIFA Professional Football Journal.
Our new regular publication is aimed at stakeholders right across the football industry and will look at ongoing trends and highlight progressive initiatives across the game. It will feature insights from top club executives, examples of innovation and scientific analysis of our progress towards making football truly global.
We will also tackle specific concerns among different stakeholders and provide feedback on what FIFA is doing to address pressing issues raised by our members, as well as let you know more about the initiatives and services that FIFA can offer you.
Above all, this regular journal provides a starting point for a deeper dialogue between FIFA and the wider football world. Whenever our articles provoke questions or inspire ideas, we would love to hear from you so that we can develop the discussion.
We believe this regular contact will help all of us achieve our goals through closer communication, building cohesion and working together for the good of our sport.
What we have experienced over the past few months has arguably been the most disruptive event for football and our society since the Second World War. However, if football has taught us anything, it is that precisely during moments of adversity, we can find inner strength and belief that can propel us towards victory. Therefore, let us use this challenge as an opportunity by reflecting on how we can all improve, reinvent ourselves and work together for the good of football and all the people who live and breathe the game around the world.
We hope that with the launch of the FIFA Professional Football Journal, we can provide you with content that creates food for thought and increases knowledge, but most importantly, fortifies the passion and love we all share and feel for football.
Finally, we hope that you and your families are all well and in good health wherever you are in the world. To all of you who have been affected directly and indirectly by the worldwide health crisis, we wish you a speedy recovery and as smooth a return as possible to some sort of normality.
Please feel free to reach out to us to share ideas and comments by writing to prof.football.journal@fifa.org.
It’s time for kick-off, so please read on and enjoy!
FIFA Professional Football Department
Emilio García Silvero
Chief Legal & Compliance Officer
Ornella Bellia
Head of Professional Football
Professional Football Projects 2020/2021
A set of innovative new projects are going to be launched in the 2020/21 season. The common thread among them is FIFA’s vision of democratising football and professionalising the game in every region of the world.
FIFA Diploma in Club Management
This programme is aimed at giving club executives from all around the world the proper tools to compete at the highest level off the pitch. For club football to develop globally, education and knowledge-sharing are key. Therefore, the Diploma in Club Management programme is designed to provide football professionals with the necessary knowledge and inspiration to take their respective clubs to the next level. Bringing together industry professionals from across the entire spectrum of the game, the course is a unique opportunity and mechanism for all of football’s stakeholders to grow and better themselves on every level.
Professional Football Landscape
To understand football in all its beauty, one must understand the environment and ecosystem in which the game operates. The Professional Football Landscape is the first-ever digital database providing a detailed visual overview of football and its worldwide components. Whether regionally specific or country-targeted, the data put together in the Professional Football Landscape provides a global snapshot of the football ecosystem at one’s fingertips to stay up to date on the facts and figures.
Professional Football HUB
While the world’s love for football is eternal, the game itself and its defining elements are constantly developing. Empowering football professionals with industry-specific knowledge through an array of publicly available articles, reports, interviews and carefully curated case studies from around the globe, the HUB is a unique online digital platform offering a central focal point for the global football community.
Last but not least…
In addition to these key projects, the work on the reform of the transfer system continues apace. A set of regulatory amendments to the transfer system and overall football ecosystem are on the table. A dedicated section of this journal will address the work done so far by the FIFA Football Stakeholders Committee and the Task Force Transfer System.
FIFA Fund for Football Players (FFP)
The FFP is a joint project between FIFA and FIFPRO, the World Players’ Union, established to provide financial support to players who have not been paid and have no chance of duly receiving the wages due to the disappearance of their respective clubs.
FIFA has set aside USD 16 million for the fund up to 2022, with this allocation to be divided as follows: USD 3m in 2020, USD 4m in 2021 and USD 4m in 2022, plus a further USD 5m for the retroactive protection of players’ salaries for the period between July 2015 and June 2020.
