Football / Soccer / Calcio / Futebol / Fußball

For those interested it's because of the FIFA Club Protection Programme that was created 15 years ago as part of the negotiation with the G14 (that is now the core of the current ECA) to drop their lawsuit for compensations for having their players injured with their NT:

Which football players are covered?

The FIFA Club Protection Programme will cover all professional football players who are under an employment contract with a football club and released to an association for international “A” matches for the senior women’s or men’s “A” representative team for which an obligation to release football players exists according to the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.

Compensation payments are made to the clubs for the period they employ those football players.

All professional football players who are employed by football clubs affiliated to a FIFA member association are protected. A professional football player is a football player who has a signed, written contract with a football club and is paid more for their footballing activity than the expenses they incur for the same activity. All other football players are considered to be amateurs and are not covered under this programm

When are the football players covered?

The football players are covered whilst under the control of the respective member association for official international “A” matches of the “A” representative team, including all playing, practising, training, training matches, travelling and time spent away. Club protection starts from the moment the football player starts their journey from their home or football club address to report for duty with their association and ends at whichever of the two following options occurs first: at midnight local time on the day they return to their home or football club from international duty, or 48 hours after leaving the “A” representative team, including direct unbroken travel (“operative time”).

For the avoidance of doubt, each and every match and/or tournament protected under this programme only has one “operative time”. The “operative time” does not cease during short period interruptions, especially not during protected tournaments (e.g. short trips by football players to their home address).

What is covered?

All football clubs are protected in cases of a TTD as a consequence of an accident suffered by their players during the “operative time”, which entirely prevents the football player from playing for their club for more than 28 consecutive days. What is considered an accident?

An accident is when a football player, at an identifiable time and place during the “operative time”, suffers a bodily injury due to a sudden external force acting on their body. An accident can also be a specific, sudden act of exertion at an identifiable time and place from which the football player suffers a bodily injury.

In addition to these defined accidents, heart attacks and strokes are also considered accidents

What compensation does the Programme offer?

The Programme compensates football clubs for up to a maximum of EUR 7,500,000 per football player per accident.

The maximum of EUR 7,500,000 is calculated at a daily “pro rata” compensation of up to EUR 20,548 (1/365), which is payable for a maximum of 365 days. The maximum daily compensation is limited to EUR 20,548 per accident.

The maximum capacity (“aggregate limit”) of the FIFA Club Protection Programme is EUR 80,000,000 per annum.

How is the compensation calculated?

The compensation payable is based solely on the fixed salary that the football club pays directly to the football player as the employer.

“Fixed salary” is defined as the set amount of money paid in weekly or monthly instalments, including mandatory social security charges, as stipulated in a written and signed contract between the football club and the football player.

Compensation will not include variable amounts, one-off payments, payments not made on a regular basis or any bonuses, including but not limited to performance or signing-on bonuses, appearance fees and/or expenses. Any amounts due on the basis of the provision of services of a different kind, irrespective of whatever nature and whether agreed under a separate contract or not, are also not covered.

The relevant football player’s salary is the salary according to the contractual situation at the time the accident occurs.

Any new or amended football player contracts agreed in writing and signed before the time of the occurrence of an accident are taken into account.

Increased or decreased salary payments, agreed in writing and signed before the occurrence of the accident, will result in increased or decreased daily compensation with effect from the start date of the new or amended football player’s contract.

If a new football player contract is signed with a different football club after the time of the occurrence of the accident, then daily benefits will continue to be payable to the new football club under the new player contract, provided that the contract in place at the time of the occurrence of the accident would have continued throughout the period of total disablement. For the avoidance of doubt, the daily benefits at the time of the occurrence of the accident shall be payable unless the salary of the new contract is lower.