Frances Nevarez’s Post

The upcoming FIFA Club World Cup 2025, featuring 32 top clubs, has ignited excitement and controversy. FIFPRO, along with other player unions, claims the tournament violates players' rights and EU competition law. Key questions include: 1. Does the scheduling violate EU labor rights? 2. Are players' rights to collective bargaining being ignored? 3. Is player welfare compromised by the additional workload? 4. Does the competition lead to restrictions of competition? FIFA has dismissed FIFPRO's concerns, calling the debate "futile." This ongoing dispute highlights a significant tension in football's governance. Read the full article to dive deeper into this critical issue. https://lnkd.in/dNWDtW8z #FIFA #FIFPRO #Football #PlayerRights #EUlaw #SportsGovernance #ClubWorldCup2025 #SportsLaw #PlayerWelfare

More positive news for women’s football! 👏❤⚽ UEFA have published the Minimum Standards Framework for Women’s National Teams with the collaboration of FIFPRO Europe. The framework highlights the need for National Associations to have transparent policies on: ☑ Responding to abuse ☑ Remuneration ☑ Maternity rights ☑ Player data An annual incentive of up to EUR 100,000 is allocated to each UEFA national association to implement the minimum standards for the next 4 years. Locally, the MFPA, acting on behalf of the players, recently signed 🖌 an improved Memorandum Of Understanding with the Malta Football Association for the senior women’s national team players, covering important subjects such as a maternal and early childhood policy and remuneration. READ MORE: bit.ly/Standards_WomenNT

NZ Rugby is at the brink of self-destruction. Proposal 2, backed by provincial unions, has passed. For 69 Against 21 Now we wait. Will New Zealand Rugby chair Dame Patsy Reddy resign as threatened? Will NZRPA no longer allow its players’ image rights to be used by NZR? Will it form a new governance arrangement for professional rugby in New Zealand? Will PE or Middle East Sovereign Wealth swoop? #sportsbiz #governance

Football: Legal Action against FIFA By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw A legal complaint against FIFA, the world governing body of association football (soccer), is being made by the top European football leagues, including the English Premier League, which represent 39 leagues and 1 130 clubs in 33 countries, together with FIFPro, the global players’ union, claiming that FIFA is abusing its dominant position. The complaint is being filed with the European (EU) Commission in Brussels, pursuant to EU Competition Rules, to protect the welfare of players. FIFPro contends that the international football calendar is:  “…. now beyond saturation, unsustainable for national leagues, and a risk for the health of players.” And adds that: “FIFA’s decision over the last years have repeatedly favoured its own competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body, and harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the welfare of players. Legal action is now the only responsible step for European leagues and player unions to protect football, its ecosystem and its workforce.” FIFA has responded to these claims that: (...) For the entire report, see: https://lnkd.in/eATg34Mw

FIFA's game-changing Agent Regulations are here and Winter 2024 marks the full impact of these changes ✨✨ Firstly, implementing capped commission fees so that agents now prioritize securing higher player wages over frequent club moves. FIFA says that “The FFAR ensure that agents no longer have extreme financial incentives to accelerate transfer movement”, and “By linking the service fee of an agent to the salary of a client, the FFAR ensure that the interests of an agent and their client are fully aligned.” Secondly, the requirement for agents to be registered, which necessitates them to pass an exam and submit documents to FIFA. Some have complained about the need for an exam, with Italian agent Daniele Pinna from D.P. Football Management saying that some agents he knew found it impossible, and calling the move for current agents to need an exam “suicide”. Positive feedback resonates and see it as a step towards professionalism, but opposition arises from major agents facing commission caps and the urge to study again😊😊. Like all changes, the knock-on effects of FIFA’s rules on soccer’s ecosystem can be hard to predict, but it is also important to remember that they were introduced primarily to protect players from exploitation, and their success or failure should be judged with that in mind. #footballbusiness #footballagent #fifaworldcup #sportsandentertainment #sportsbusiness #sportsnews #sportslaw #athletes #FIFAregulations #playerprotection

The Professional Footballers’ Association is threatening legal action against FIFA, as some top Premier League clubs could play up to 86 match seasons. While many will say these footballers are spoiled, as top players often earn more in a week than most will earn in their entire lifetimes – they are still people who are entitled to fair working conditions. These concerns have come about as FIFA is introducing a new Club World Cup in 2025, during a period when most EPL players would be on holiday. The 2025-2026 Premier League campaign would then start just under a month later, and the World Cup will follow, which has been expanded from 32 to 48 nations. Footballers are sportsmen in peak physical condition, and if we want to see them at their best and most competitive, we need to give their bodies time to recover. I don’t think this will be possible with the new proposed schedule, so we can only hope that common sense prevails! #Law #SportsLaw #Football #ConflictResolution #CWD

The Bundesliga currently has a ‘Winterpause’ a mid season break which runs from 20 December to 12 January. The break is often used by the teams for training camps in warmer climates, for details of what the Bundesliga clubs are doing in the current winter break see: https://lnkd.in/eVeaKtyU . The 'Winterpause' is not so popular with fans who would like to keep watching football but a similar break has been wanted by many of the England coaches including Sven Goran Eriksson, and Fabio Capello and Gareth Southgate. Winter conditions including snow means games get postponed and the risk of injury is higher. In season 2019/20 there was a formal mid-season break trial in the Premier League it was abandoned. This season each team has been given ten days without a league game in the fixture list, however it is staggered over two weeks and the third round of the FA Cup matches are taking place. In German football there are no fixtures in the cup or otherwise during the break. In the Premier League there are a total of 380 Matches during the season. The Bundesliga has two teams less, there are only 306 league games. There are 728 teams that take part in the FA Cup Vs 64 in the DFB Pokal, German FA Cup. There is also no second cup like the English League Cup the professional teams take part in, in the German system. The reforms to the European competitions, including Europa and Champions Leagues, will see an increase in the number of games and therefore injuries. There are currently 71 players injured in the Bundesliga in the Premier League there are 90 (source Transfermarkt). As the BBC’s Alastair Telfer recently reported injuries in the Premier League are already at an all time high: https://lnkd.in/eRpmzRJH Today, Simon Stone of BBC Sport looks at a potential legal challenge by the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) to protect players from fixture congestion and resulting injuries in the English game: https://lnkd.in/ehEp5kXP #benmcfadyean #fussball #bundesliga #premierleague

As FIFA just announced new amendments and modifications related to the Intermediaries world, I am pleased to share with my network an old article that I have published on LawInSport to make a comparison and see what has changed in the last almost six years. #Sportslaw #footballlaw #droitdusport #derechodeportivo #direitodesportivo #dirittosportivo #football

The Rugby Football League and Super League have been longtime users of Prevent’s instrumented mouthguards, establishing themselves as innovators at the forefront of player welfare. In this video, St Helens Saints R.F.C. captains Jodie Cunningham and Jonny Lomax, along with Prevent’s Karl Hogan, break down how Prevent’s IMGs work and the impact they’re having in Rugby League. Click the link in the comments to watch the full feature for free on SuperLeague+ #SuperLeague #RugbyLeague #sportstech #sportsbusiness #headimpact #impactmonitoring #mouthguards #preventbiometrics #playersafety

Being a referee... As some you know, outside of my day job I am a (community level) rugby union referee. At this point talking to people I often get told that the rules (laws, actually, but OK) are too hard to follow. To a degree, that's a fair comment: I have blown a penalty knowing you cant do that, but the exact reason why can be fuzzy. So with an eye to the upcoming RWC23 (and the Men's and Women's RWC both in Australia in 2027) I putting out some thoughts on how in fact Rugby is can be made a lot simpler by following a few really important "rules". Number One: stay on your feet. If you are on your feet, supporting your own weight, you can do an awful lot of stuff - run, pass backwards, kick anywhere, tackle a ball carrier, clean out a ruck. If you are off your feet, all you can do get back to your feet. And you cant do that while holding the ball, with the exception of falling over (without being tackled* - defined term) and getting back up. Finally, I stress that all these views on the game and how to play it are my own, and that other referees may take a different view of the laws. So - rugby is a game you play on your feet. If you are on the ground, you are out of play. Applying that to rucks explains a fair chunk of the penalties that people ask "what was that for?". But not all of them.