A new international union for footballers is taking the conflict between the world association FIFA and the established union FIFPRO to the next level.
The new union with the name Asociacion International de Futbolistas (AIF) was officially launched on Thursday (04/23/26) in Madrid. The president of the organization is the Spaniard David Aganzowho was president of the previously sole global players’ union FIFPRO until 2024 and heads the Spanish union AFE.
Under Aganzo’s leadership, the AFE left FIFPRO in February, citing, among other things, a lack of transparency as a reason. At the AIF’s inaugural event, Aganzo emphasized the need for a new organization to protect players’ rights. Referring to FIFPRO, he said: “We did not come looking for confrontation.”
David Aganzo, president of the new players’ union AIF.
FIFPRO: The AIF lacks legitimacy
FIFPRO criticized the establishment of the new union. The AIF is missing “The basic legitimacy is missing to represent professional footballers worldwide”. Aganzo just wanted “strengthen one’s own reputation”. FIFPRO represents more than 60,000 players worldwide and is formally recognized by the European Union and the International Labor Organization as well as all international football associations and interest groups. According to information from Sportschau, the conflict is deeper: FIFPRO is suspected of supporting FIFA for the new union.
However, when asked by Sportschau, FIFA said that they were only “like others, also informed about the founding of the AIF” became. “In principle, FIFA remains committed to an open and constructive dialogue with all players in football who uphold core principles such as representativeness”says the world association.
FIFPRO
FIFPRO is a global players’ union. The umbrella organization of trade unions has 71 national unions, 35 of which are from Europe. These include influential unions such as those from England or France. But not every country has a players’ union and not every players’ union is a member of FIFPRO. The German union VDV is not organized in FIFPRO because there was a dispute over the handling of players’ personal rights in commercial terms – for example in video games. Other unions are not included because they do not meet certain FIFPRO requirements. As a result, the Brazilian union of the “big” football nations is not a FIFPRO member.
Dispute between FIFPRO and FIFA for years
The conflict between FIFA and FIFPRO has recently become more and more intense. In 2024, FIFPRO, together with the European league association, which also organizes the Bundesliga, filed a complaint against FIFA with the EU Commission. It was about designing the game calendar after FIFA installed the new, enlarged Club World Cup there. FIFPRO and the leagues are demanding a stronger say.
For the players’ union it’s about the burden on the players, for the leagues it’s about strong competition from FIFA on the TV rights market. Since then, there have been repeated conflicts between the union and the world association:
- The “Eleven of the Year” chosen by FIFPRO members was chosen from the FIFA Gala “The Best” removed.
- The day before the final of the 2025 Club World Cup, FIFA President gathered Gianni Infantino several union representatives demonstratively spoke about the consequences of the Club World Cup. FIFPRO was not there and spoke of a “farce”.
- FIFA and UEFA are also often in conflict, FIFPRO always sought proximity to UEFA and criticized the expansion of the Champions League never publicly and now has a seat on the powerful UEFA Executive Committee.
Aganzo was also part of this conflict. He was still FIFPRO president when he met with FIFA president Gianni Infantino in October 2024. Infantino posted a photo with Aganzo on Instagram and called him the president “the Spanish trade union”with whom he wanted to continue working for the welfare of players – not a word about FIFPRO, of which Aganzo was president at the time. At FIFPRO, the meeting was considered a solo effort that had not been agreed upon. At the FIFPRO Congress in Indonesia a few weeks later, Aganzo was voted out.
After the Club World Cup the conflict escalated
The dispute between FIFA and FIFPRO finally escalated shortly after the final of the 2025 Club World Cup. The new FIFPRO president Sergio Marchi described the tournament as “a reminiscence of the ‘bread and circuses’ of Nero Rome. What was presented as a global football festival was nothing more than a fiction created by FIFA and promoted by its president, without dialogue, sensitivity and respect for those who support the sport with their daily efforts”.
FIFPRO President Sergio Marchi (l.) with Lionel Messi
In return, FIFA issued a sweeping strike against FIFPRO. “FIFA is extremely disappointed by the increasingly divisive tone adopted by the FIFPRO leadership”it was said at the time. “FIFPRO has chosen a path of public confrontation instead of conducting a constructive dialogue.” The “artificial PR battles” of the union are driven by the personal interests of the leadership and have “nothing to do with protecting the welfare of the players”. FIFA criticized FIFPRO for not publishing statutes and financial reports. “One thing is clear: you cannot preach transparency while simultaneously acting in a non-transparent manner.”
In November, at a meeting with various individual unions in the Moroccan city of Rabat, FIFA set up a dialogue forum for professional footballers and announced several demands: at least 72 hours of rest between two games, at least 21 days of vacation between two seasons and one day of rest per week. Topics that were otherwise clearly at FIFPRO. Right in the middle of the meeting in Rabat: David Aganzo.