FIFPro president warns transfer ´bubble will burst soon´

FIFPro president Philippe Piat has promised that “the bubble will burst soon” in a transfer market which leads to footballers being “almost treated as slaves”.

The global players’ union confirmed on Friday that it was launching legal action against FIFA to have the current transfer system overhauled in order to create fair practice in the sport and prevent the financial and sporting dominance of the elite clubs.

Speaking at a press conference, Piat has claimed action is now essential as too many professionals – including minors – are treated as mere “commodities” in the outdated system.

“A Belgian player [Kevin De Bruyne] was transferred for €80million, the Real Madrid president said [Cristiano] Ronaldo would cost €1billion,” he said.

“Meanwhile, there are leagues in the east of Europe, and in Latin American countries where players are not paid.

“There are agents who are guilty of unfair practices. We’ve seen with TPO [third-party ownership] we have companies who own the left leg of a player, others own the head, or the right.

“There are thousands of players changing from one club to another. There is no stability, there is no balance in terms of competition. We always have the same large clubs at the elite. There is no protection for young players or minors.

“The football transfer system bubble could burst soon.

“Players are treated as commodities. It is getting out of hand. Some players are extremely wealthy and others, in some countries, are almost treated as slaves.”

FIFPro’s director of policy Jonas Baer-Hoffmann revealed that 67 per cent of transfer fees across Europe’s top five leagues were paid to clubs in those same divisions in the most recent transfer window as the group vowed to rectify the imbalance across the sport.