8 February 2012 / REUTERS, LONDON
Professional football in eastern Europe is struggling with a “terrifying lack of respect” for the rights of players who are being exposed to increasing violence, racism and match-fixing, according to a new report.
FIFPro, the global union for professional players, revealed their findings in what they have called The Black Book Eastern Europe, after a survey of nearly 3,400 players in mainly eastern Europe with others from southern Europe adding their voices to a survey that makes astonishingly somber reading. FIFPro, who published the report in Brussels, says there is “an urgent need” to improve the legal position of professional players in eastern Europe. The report concludes that almost a quarter of players (23.6 percent) are aware of match-fixing in their league and that in Russia, hosts of the 2018 World Cup finals, the figure is as high as 43.5 percent. Turkey is currently engulfed in a serious match-fixing scandal while many other cases have come to light in other eastern European countries. Director Anthony Higgins said the results were worrying.
