FIFPRO – Enhancing Player Safety

Amid growing concerns about fan violence and abuse towards players across Europe, a new report from FIFPRO has shone fresh light on the issue and proposed potential solutions. Jonathan Dyson reports.

With verbal and physical attacks on players, threats and intimidation in stadia, training grounds and online, the rise in violence and abuse towards footballers in Europe has become a major concern over recent years.

Among the most recent examples saw Trabzonspor fans attack Fenerbahçe players on the pitch after a Turkish Super Lig match in March. Violent attacks have also been seen in Greece and Cyprus, with several players hurt or injured, but the problem has been experienced to varying degrees across the continent.

In January, the global football players union FIFPRO published a new report designed to highlight the scale and impact of the issue, while suggesting measures to “increase workplace safety and protect player well-being.”

‘FIFPRO Men’s Football Workplace Safety Report: The Impact of Violence Towards Footballers in Their Workplace’ drew on player interviews, a survey of 41 national player unions and media reviews.

The report was underpinned by an academic research paper by Dr Joel Rookwood, Director of the Sport & Exercise Management degree at University College Dublin.

FIFPRO found that while 85% of player unions agree that “in most instances the relationship between fans and players is very positive and should be cherished,” 76% said workplace safety is a growing concern for professional footballers and 66% felt that in recent years parts of fan culture have “become increasingly more violent and abusive.”

The study showed that the use of flares or missiles are of particular concern, but that violent acts also include players being attacked by pitch invaders or victimised from the stands with verbal abuse that can be discriminatory or aimed at family members.

It added that many “hidden instances” of abuse go unreported amid a normalization of threats and acts of aggression, and that violence and abuse have alarming repercussions, with 88% of unions saying the threat of violence leads to poor performance by players, and 83% saying it contributes to mental health issues.

Speaking to fcbusiness, Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO’s Director of Global Policy for men’s football, says that during its research the body found the problem is occurring at all levels of the game, across the world, with a particular increase in reported incidents in top-flight leagues.

“This is something which is connecting big markets and smaller football markets, and in a country’s top-tier and lower-level competitions – but increasingly at the top level,” he says.

While the issue appears to have grown bigger since Covid, the FIFPRO report concluded that a greater sense of entitlement from fans about how they feel they can interact with players helps explain why it is continuing to worsen, four years on from the first lockdowns. The research found that players believe their presence on social media as well as in regular behind-the-scenes documentaries, and with TV cameras appearing in dressing rooms more frequently, has helped drive this profound change in the player-fan relationship.

A footballer quoted anonymously in the report said he felt that “constant access to the real me as a player has lowered the threshold for fans in the stadium to a point where some think they are entitled to do things which they really aren’t.”

Bielefeld says this shift has instilled a “mentality of almost anything goes” among some fans, and as an example points to an incident during a LaLiga match in February when a young Rayo Vallecano fan appeared to poke his finger up the backside of Sevilla player Lucas Ocampos when he was taking a throw-in. The match was halted for two minutes after the Argentine winger turned to remonstrate with the fan and spoke to the referee.

“Why does this kid feel it’s acceptable to do that?,” asks Bielefeld. “We talk about protection and respect in the working environment, that the pitch is someone’s workplace, and we have simply crossed certain boundaries which five, six, ten years ago were there more often.”

The problem is being compounded by a reluctance among players to speak up, with the report noting they “often silently accept aggression and do not talk about it in case it exacerbates the abuse and prejudices their employment opportunities.”

“We need to have a very honest dialogue about what is needed to create a safe environment”

Bielefeld stresses that this is why it was particularly important to speak with players as part of FIFPRO’s research, noting that the quotes featured in the report “you will rarely read from a player in the media, or in a post-match interview, because they are afraid to say it if they don’t feel protected.”

The FIFPRO study complements annual reporting already carried out by national player unions, such as the Italian Footballers’ Association (AIC), which has published an analysis of violence and abuse towards players across the professional and amateur game in Italy each year since 2015, using information from public sources and direct reports.

AIC’s latest study, covering the 2021/22 season, found that 121 cases were registered in which players were subjected to insults, threats or intimidation – up from 70 in 2013/14 when AIC began tracking such incidents – with 85% occurring at professional level and 68% in Serie A.

It noted that the actual number of incidents was most likely significantly higher because many were not reported due to fears among players of “attempting to resolve issues without generating further problems, or simply because violence and abuse were considered ‘part of the game’.”

Of the reported cases, 60% took place inside a stadium, with chants making up 36% of incidents, and verbal insults 22%, with the throwing of objects on to the pitch also a major issue. Other incidents included verbal attacks on players away from the ground – in some cases in the presence of their children – as well as damage to at least one player’s car, and threats on social media.

Among all cases, 83% were against a single player, with 44% due to their performance on the pitch and 43% linked to racism, often connected to far-right beliefs. As many as 32% of incidents were committed by a player’s own fans, with 64% from opposing fans and 4% not identifiable.

Stefano Sartori, Labour Relations Manager at AIC and a member of the FIFPRO global board, says AIC’s yearly study has highlighted a clear increase in the number of reported cases over the past decade, especially at the highest level.

“Over the last almost 10 years the cases have been growing, and the more affected players are now in Serie A, which now has the most cases. This is a surprise for us because in general, in the past, the lowest levels were more affected.”

The AIC’s findings are shared with the Italian police and the ministry of internal affairs, as well as national media to help drive awareness of the issue. As football in Italy and elsewhere attempts to get to grips with the issue, a range of solutions have been proposed, with pressure on clubs, associations, police and stewards as well as governments to take action.

The FIFPRO report found that player unions would favour increased use of technology to catch and deter perpetrators, with 98 per cent saying tech devices such as security scanners and facial recognition would make players safer, and 88 per cent saying more should also be done by clubs to ban violent fans.

“Footballers are probably one of the most surveyed group of workers by technology”

Bielefeld says players feel strongly about the use of technology as they are keenly aware of how it is deployed to monitor and track their own actions – with up to 8 million data points collected on each player during a match from stadium cameras for semi-automated offside technology, for instance.

“Footballers are probably one of the most surveyed group of workers by technology, along with a few other intensely-observed groups such as Amazon workers,” he suggests.

“So it’s very difficult for us as unions to explain to players that technology is so heavily used in their environment to measure and survey their performance, while at the same time we can’t use technology to guarantee a safe working environment for them.”

Bielefeld acknowledges that many fans oppose the use of artificial intelligence (AI), facial recognition, drones or personalized tickets, but asserts that “we need to have a very honest dialogue about what is needed to create a safe environment and what people are willing to do for that to avoid collective punishments and enable the identification of a minority of people who are responsible for increased violence and abuse.”

Sartori agrees that technology can help tackle the issue, pointing out that after AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan was racially abused during a match at Udinese in January, five fans were identified using analysis of video footage from inside the Bluenergy Stadium, and each given a five year nationwide stadium ban by Italian authorities, as well as life bans by Udinese.

“The use of cameras can help to avoid cases like this, as every fan is aware of it and every incident of abuse can be checked, so I think technology can help a lot,” he says. Bielefeld adds that technology can help tackle the culture of violence without sanitizing the stadium experience.

“We don’t want to create a Wimbledon or Roland-Garros atmosphere in a football stadium, where there is silence as a tennis match is in play,” he stresses. “And this is not what the players want.”

Aside from technology, most player unions interviewed for the FIFPRO report agreed more steps should be taken to foster dialogue with fans about the impact of violence and abuse on player well-being.

Bielefeld says that for clubs and associations looking to tackle the problem, increased communication with players themselves is also important.

“Go talk to the players’ union, speak with the players about the issue and what they feel needs to be addressed, and try to identify what practical measures there are that can be implemented. Because in every club and in every league, they will be slightly different, based on the circumstances, based on the resources.”

As it looks to accelerate the conversation around the issue, FIFPRO Europe is holding an event in Limassol, Cyprus in April to be attended by representatives from UEFA, European Leagues and player unions, as well as fans, experts, police authorities, including Interpol and the Council of Europe.

“We are bringing the relevant stakeholders together not only to discuss the situation in Cyprus, but across Europe,” says Bielefeld.

Looking further ahead, he says that FIFPRO is also aiming to find other ways of sharing players’ concerns and views to increase public awareness of their standpoint.

“We want to do a better job of really reinforcing the messages and the voice of players in this area, and also to get across the point that if fans want to see the best possible sporting performance then they also need to provide a safe playing environment and respect the players’ workplace.”

Images: Getty Images