FIFA prioritises profit, PASP President says, fully backing FIFPRO statements

The Executive President of the Pancyprian Footballers’ Association (PASP), Spyros Neophytidis, said he fully agrees with the recent statements by Sergio Marchi, President of the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPRO), regarding the conduct and policies of FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Neophytidis was invited to comment on Marchi’s assertion that football does not belong to Infantino or FIFA, but to the players themselves — and that if there are "gods" of football, they include figures like Baresi, Maradona and Messi, not Infantino. Neophytidis said that Marchi was “absolutely right,” adding that Infantino’s tactics are not aimed at the wellbeing of the game or its players, but rather at maximising FIFA’s financial profits.

Commenting further on Marchi’s reference to the fact that players are often afraid to speak out — with many simply told to “shut up and play,” even in extreme conditions such as 45 degrees Celsius heat — Neophytidis noted that similar concerns exist in Cyprus.

He pointed out that, due to broadcasting rights, many matches are scheduled under harsh weather conditions, with high temperatures that pose serious health risks to footballers.

On 23 July, FIFPRO President Sergio Marchi, who during his playing days represented the likes of Gimnasia de la Plata and San Lorenzo, and who also serves as Argentinian player union Secretary General and FIFPRO South America President, said, "Football doesn’t belong to [Gianni] Infantino. It doesn’t belong to FIFA. Football belongs to all footballers. And if there are Gods of football, it is Franco Baresi, Toto Schillaci, Diego Armando Maradona, Lionel Messi, Socrates, Ronaldinho. Not Infantino."

Marchi was also quick to highlight the plight of many professional footballers around the world who remain unpaid.

He said, "We’re in the 21st century and thousands of players still go unpaid. Meanwhile, FIFA celebrates record ticket sales. Let them have their party, but the people who built the game should be paid too.

"Football is deeply inequitable. It’s unjust. And we’re in a profession that ends at 35, with a whole life still ahead."

Marchi added, "It was announced that tickets for the World Cup are now going on sale, millions will surely be sold, according to the [FIFA] president, who says it will generate over three billion dollars in revenue. And it’s incredible. Yet I’ll say it again: There are still footballers who haven’t been paid their salaries for two, three, even four years."

Marchi was speaking in an interview with The Athletic.

(Source: CNA)