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The 24 European football player unions represented by FIFPRO Division Europe and 32 athlete unions represented by UNI Europa Sport-PRO will now, with this agreement, have a foundation for a unified stance. This is critical as the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, with its Article 165 granting the E.U. a new competence in sport, prompted a massive lobbying campaign by sport employers and governing bodies.



UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings welcomed this breakthrough and looks forward to taking the initiative global with the launch of UNI Sport-PRO Global Union in 2011.



“The rules of the game have changed in sport, which has become a global economic force,” Jennings said. “Today we have global ownership, global marketing, global brands, global icons and a fast globalising labour market for players, all of which requires a global union response. Our head office in Nyon, Switzerland is located in a global sports corridor which stretches from Geneva to Lausanne where key sports federations are located from the IOC and its federations in Lausanne to our close neighbours UEFA the European football association based in Nyon.”



John Monks, General Secretary of ETUC, said: “The ETUC is thrilled to welcome UNI Europa into the cooperation between us and FIFPro. We are looking forward to the cooperation and to creating a strong joint platform that enables us to defend the basic rights of football players and other professional sportspeople.”





Bernadette Ségol, Regional Secretary of UNI Europa, added: “We are very pleased with the agreement with FIFPro and the football players. We are looking forward to assisting FIFPro in the same way that we assist EU Athletes.”



UNI Europa Sport-PRO and FIFPRO Division Europe will jointly host the “European Professional Sportpeoples Forum” in Brussels in January. The theme of the forum will be “Defending the Fundamental Rights of Athletes”.