FIFPRO
The Fédération internationale des Associations de footballeurs professionnels, usually known by the abbreviation FIFPro, is a worldwide representative organization for professional football players. At the moment there are 42 national players associations who are member of FIFPro. The World XI team is also included on the video game FIFA series.
Brief history
On 15 December 1965 representatives of the French, Scottish, English, Italian and Dutch players' associations met in Paris, with the purpose of setting up an international federation for footballers.
The Board
Current: FIFPro Board
President: Gordon Taylor (PFA, England)
General-Secretary: Theo van Seggelen (VVCS, Netherlands)
Vice-presidents: Philippe Piat (UNFP, France), Leonardo Grosso (AIC, Italy), Gerardo G. Movilla (AFE, Spain), Jorge Dominguez (FAA, Argentina)
Secretary to the FIFPro board: Frederique Winia (Netherlands)
Awards
In 2005, FIFPro launched its inaugural "World XI Player Awards", "World Player of the Year" and "Young Player of the Year" awards.
World XI
The World XI are chosen by the footballers themselves from a list of candidates for each position. The list is generated by the awards committee itself.
- Steven Gerrard is the only player to have been nominated in every FIFPro World XI team, while Zinedine Zidane had been nominated in both teams before his retirement in 2006.
World Player of the Year
The player with the most votes in the World XI balloting is also named World Player of the Year.
Season | Player | Team |
---|---|---|
2004-2005 | Ronaldinho | FC Barcelona† |
2005-2006 | Ronaldinho | FC Barcelona† |
2006-2007 | Kaká | A.C. Milan |
2007-2008 |
† denotes that the player has since moved clubs
Young Player of the Year
Two players are chosen for this award; one by the awards committee, and the other by fans.
Year | Player (by awards committee) |
Player (by fans - known as the Special Young Player of the Year) |
---|---|---|
2004-2005 | Wayne Rooney ( Manchester United) | Cristiano Ronaldo ( Manchester United) |
2005-2006 | Lionel Messi ( FC Barcelona) | Cristiano Ronaldo ( Manchester United) |
2006-2007 | Lionel Messi ( FC Barcelona) | Lionel Messi ( FC Barcelona) |