A joint report released by FIFPRO Europe, Player IQ, and Football Benchmark reveals that players contracted to European clubs represent 94% of the total player value at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, underscoring Europe's critical role as the primary employment hub for professional football talent globally.

FIFPRO's Full Report

The report's findings indicate that the infrastructure supporting the global football player workforce should not be viewed as an asset that can be arbitrarily sold or undervalued. This directly addresses concerns about FIFA's proposed "FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE)," which threatens global football development and solidarity systems.

The evidence reinforces the necessity for trustworthy and comprehensive governance structures, including independent oversight of FIFA Council decision-making mechanisms and the formal inclusion of professional football stakeholders in sports governance systems.

FIFPRO Europe, alongside Player IQ and Football Benchmark, has published a data-driven analytical report titled "Protecting the Global Player Workforce," which examines the European labour market and the value players contribute to global football. The report calls for all global and European stakeholders to increase collaboration and coordination in implementing the governance reforms outlined.

The report focuses primarily on the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a case study to demonstrate the global nature of the player workforce and the interconnected employment market that supports player development.

Global Resources and Gateway to the World for All Players and Federations

The report demonstrates that football's global value is created by talent from confederations worldwide, with professional football in Europe serving as the primary employment hub and value-creation centre. This ecosystem does not generate value in isolation; it depends on talent input from around the world and global professional football development.

In the five most recent FIFA World Cups, all individual awards—the Golden Ball, Golden Boot, Best Young Player Award, and Golden Glove Award—have been won by players contracted to European clubs. Among the 856 players participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup who play in the European market, 451 are non-European players, collectively generating 33% of the tournament's total player value. This clearly demonstrates that the European market is a shared gateway to the world, not a closed system.

This global character extends beyond participating players to investments in the infrastructure itself. Data shows that in the 2025/26 season, approximately 40% of clubs in Europe's top five leagues are controlled by non-European capital. This further proves that the European labour market is a shared global gateway that requires responsible governance, not an asset to be arbitrarily sold in closed-door meetings.

Protecting the Global Football Ecosystem and Value Creation

Protecting this interconnected ecosystem is essential for maintaining the global development systems and solidarity that depend on it. Understanding how value is created and preserving conditions that support development are central to the growth, investment, and future solidarity of global football. Notably, 60% of player value at the 2026 FIFA World Cup is concentrated in just 20 European clubs that develop European players, clearly demonstrating how dependent FIFA's flagship global event is on the broader professional football ecosystem. FIFA's global capital allocation, including FFE at a maximum of $2.25 billion, ultimately depends on the overall success of this competition.

However, even as FIFA World Cup revenues have multiplied, the proportion of prize money returned to participating member associations has declined from approximately 10.5% in 2006 to approximately 7.7% in 2026. Players receive minimal compensation, while participating member associations depend on this as their sole performance-based revenue source from FIFA. Thus, players, clubs, the labour market, and national associations are not merely beneficiaries of the global system—they are also its financiers.

FIFA's FFE proposal this year starkly illustrates what happens when this principle is abandoned: the proposal attempts to convert core football activities into tradeable financial assets or even undervalue them, developed unilaterally without consent from professional football stakeholders and the entire football ecosystem—those who actually create the relevant value. Although the FFE proposal was withdrawn, governance gaps that put the global ecosystem at risk remain.

Promoting Solidarity Through Trustworthy Governance, Not Unilateral Decisions

FIFPRO Europe's opposition to FFE was never opposition to funding under-resourced member associations—a worthy goal often invoked. The core issue is that this unilateral demand was disguised as a solidarity mechanism, designed and imposed without consent, transparency, or participation from the players, clubs, leagues, and member associations who create and sustain the system. Any future proposals aimed at increasing solidarity funding should be developed collaboratively through trustworthy governance structures, rather than imposed unilaterally.

FIFPRO and its European division call for independent oversight of FIFA Council's executive decision-making to ensure no body can act unilaterally again. They also call for the formal inclusion of professional football stakeholders—players, clubs, and leagues who create football's value—alongside member associations in decision-making structures. This represents an opportunity for the global football community to strengthen football governance to ensure it reflects and serves those who genuinely sustain, support, and depend on the sport.

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