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FIFA reaffirms anti-doping commitment at Council of Europe meeting

FIFA reaffirms anti-doping commitment at Council of Europe meeting

  • FIFA representatives attend meeting of Council of Europe’s Monitoring Group of Anti-Doping Convention (T-DO)

  • FIFA outlined scaled-up efforts to keep football clean and fair

  • Importance of education at youth level to influence future generations of players also highlighted

FIFA reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to fair play and the integrity of football as a member of the Council of Europe’s Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention (T-DO) at the body’s latest gathering in Strasbourg, France.

Delegates at the two-day meeting heard from Alexis Weber, FIFA’s Head of Anti-Doping, and Annaliza Tsakona, FIFA’s Senior International Relations & Public Affairs Manager, about how FIFA has stepped up its efforts to ensure that its competitions remain fair.

“FIFA would like to reiterate its commitment to continuing our close collaboration with the Council of Europe – under the memorandum of understanding signed in 2018 – as well as with governments and political institutions around the globe,” Ms Tsakona told attendees, consisting of representatives of the Council of Europe and Council of Europe member states, parties to the Anti-Doping Convention and observers from international sports federations.

“It is through collaborative efforts that we can effectively address challenges jeopardising the principles of fair play, integrity and clean competition. Such cooperation has the potential to catalyse positive societal change, extending its impact beyond the sporting arena,” Ms Tsakona added.

FIFA's representatives outlined the organisation's anti-doping operations at the FIFA World Cup™ in Qatar late last year. The T-DO, which plays an important role in coordinating the implementation and harmonisation of anti-doping programmes across EU member states, also heard about the enhanced anti-doping policy put in place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™. As the centrepiece of the most comprehensive measures ever implemented at a FIFA Women’s World Cup™, 30% more tests were conducted than at the previous edition in France in 2019.

FIFA is also taking an active role in trying to ensure that anti-doping is a part of a player’s mindset long before they reach elite level. After Ms Tsakona had stressed the importance of education and whistle-blowing, FIFA’s anti-doping e-learning platform was then presented. It is tailored to three distinct target groups: youth players, professional players and player support staff.

The T-DO was then given an overview of the robust anti-doping programme that has been put in place for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023™ in Indonesia with the aim of instilling ethical values and the concept of fair competition in players from an early age.

FIFPRO presents preliminary trends of upcoming workplace safety report at Council of Europe

FIFPRO presents preliminary trends of upcoming workplace safety report at Council of Europe
  • FIFPRO presented preliminary trends of workplace safety and violence report at fourth meeting of the Committee on Security and Safety at Sports Events

  • Council of Europe’s Saint-Denis Convention is committed to making football matches more safe, secure and welcoming

  • Ninety-five percent of football’s player unions agree violence and abuse is a workplace health and safety issue that needs specific regulation to enforce player protection

FIFPRO presented the preliminary trends of its upcoming Player Workplace Safety: Abuse & Violence report at the Committee on Safety and Security at Sports Events at the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg, France.  

The committee is the monitoring body of the Council of Europe’s Saint-Denis Convention, which FIFPRO declared its wish to become an observer, with the core aim of making football matches and other sports events more safe, secure and welcoming. Current observers include the likes of FIFA and UEFA.

The Saint-Denis Convention protects and promotes the human rights of all participants at football matches and other sports events, including the right of players to work in a healthy, safe and secure environment.

FIFPRO Europe President David Terrier and FIFPRO Director of Global Policy & Strategic Relations (Men's Football) Alexander Bielefeld provided a player-centric perspective on workplace health and safety through the lens of football’s player unions.

"Safety in the workplace is a fundamental right that almost every profession enjoys through international conventions and national policies. However, since the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen a dramatic rise in violence and abuse against players at their place of work: the pitch, the stadium, the changing rooms, the bus ride to the match, the training ground and even online," said Terrier.

"We want to be a partner for stakeholder dialogue to strengthen collective solutions and ensure workplace safety for professional players and all other participants."

Under the international bargaining framework between football’s league and player unions, World Leagues Forum (WLF) and FIFPRO recently agreed to establish three new labour initiatives with a view to strengthen and protect national leagues and playing conditions. One of these committees is focused on violence and safety at football matches.

According to FIFPRO’s preliminary trends of its workplace safety report, players and unions fear that the pitch and the extended working environment are becoming increasingly hostile:

  • 95% of unions agree violence and abuse is a workplace health and safety issue for players and needs specific regulation to design and enforce player protection;

  • 98% of unions believe technology could be better used to reduce the threats posed by violent or abusive fan behaviour. This includes personalised tickets (78%), entrance scanners/detectors (73%) and facial recognition cameras (68%);

  • 71% of unions say that players are worried speaking out could lead to more abuse on social media or risk employment opportunities;

  • 88% of unions believe that abuse and violence has a significant impact on player performance.

"Until now there has been no or little work done to understand the issue from a player-centric occupational health and safety perspective. That is why we have undertaken an extensive global research project, analysing instances of violence towards players in the workplace. Our findings show that football wants action," said Bielefeld.

"While we continue to finalise this work, we hope that it will contribute to a wider debate on the normalisation of abusive behaviour associated with parts of football culture."

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