Players in Covid-19 salaries poser

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
FifPro, an organisation that champions footballers’ rights has urged Zimbabwean clubs not to follow elite league clubs such as Juventus and Barcelona that cut players’ salaries.

Roy Vermeer, the FifPro legal director, said they were working with Fifa to find ways of addressing the challenges caused by the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

The discussions with Fifa have been about how to protect public health and minimise the economic impact on football players, clubs and leagues.

FifPro has also been providing legal advice to footballers and offering social support such as mental health and second-career planning.

Vermeer said Zifa, Footballers Union of Zimbabwe (Fuz) and clubs should engage to find ways of mitigating the impact of Covid-19.

“It is important that players and their unions are involved in all decision-making. In any situation, the employer and employee should be equally represented,” Vermeer said.

He said Fifa was discussing the establishment of a global assistance fund which will help mitigate some of the effects of Covid-19 on professional footballers.

“This is not a bailout as such but a fund meant to cushion clubs so that employment conditions of the players are not unilaterally changed, particularly in relation to their salaries,” said Vermeer.

A pay cut will definitely have a huge impact on players especially for players in countries such as Zimbabwe and other developing countries which are paying low salaries.

FifPro’s discussions with Fifa are focused on player registration windows and contract duration and they are set to continue this week.

The international football players’ rights group is aware that some players’ contracts will soon expire and warned clubs against using the pandemic as an excuse to ignore “legally-binding employment contracts”.

Fuz president Desmond Maringwa said it is not feasible for local footballers to take salary cuts since they earn far less than their European counterparts.

“Our local remuneration structure is backed by winning bonuses, so, if you look at it closely, the footballers are already at a disadvantage and a salary cut will worsen their situation. Our players are professionals with legally binding contracts. In Europe, those cuts were by mutual consent,” said Maringwa. — @ZililoR.