More than 80 Maltese footballers have joined the General Workers Union. This came after players’ pay for training sessions with the national team was stopped. Players also want the union’s help to resolve issues over medical insurance and sickness payments. However, this will prove a complex task for the union. It will have to deal not only with a player’s club and agent, but also with the Malta Football Association which has sole power, given by FIFA, to decide disputes.
Background
Maltese football players can be professional or amateur. A player who is paid for participating in any activity connected with football is registered as a professional and can be full-time or part-time players. A full–time professional player is defined as one whose only, or principal, occupation is that of training and/or playing football for a member club and thus is available to play for his club or national team at any time, either in Malta or abroad. In contrast, a part-time professional player plays or trains for his club or national team on a part-time basis.
However, there has been a long-felt need among Maltese players for a representative body to define and defend their rights, which have not, until now, been so specifically spelt out as their duties. During the 2004 /2005 football season a letter signed by 200 football players was sent to Malta Football Association (MFA) urging it to change the working parameters and capping of salaries. When there was no positive response to this, players attempted, unsuccessfully, to set up a football players’ organisation.
The issue came to a head when the MFA decided to stop paying players for their training sessions with the national team. The players contacted the General Workers’ Union (GWU) and decided to apply for membership. They held a meeting with GWU General Secretary Tony Zarb and his deputy, Michael Parnis, who informed the players they had contacted Union Network International (UNI), based in Nyon, Switzerland which tries to promote the principles of trade unionism among sports people.
The players hoped that by doing this they would establish a platform of social dialogue in Maltese football which, in turn, would help resolve grievances such as medical insurance. This is agreed between players and clubs, but one player stated that the clubs do not always cover the expenses incurred by players going abroad for surgery. There are even some cases where clubs insert a clause in contracts allowing them to stop paying an injured player who is inactive for more than a month.
The GWU has requested a meeting with the MFA President, Norman Darmanin Demajo. The MFA is not the footballers’ employer, but players, coaches and clubs are subject to MFA regulations. Its Complaint Board deals with matters lodged with the association which are alleged to be in breach of MFA rules. This board has the authority to fix levels of compensation for players, or to impose sanctions on clubs, barring them from activities organised by the association. Any party wanting to settle a grievance in a civil court must first obtain the permission of the MFA Council.
Commentary
In dealing with disputes between players and clubs, the GWU will have to adjust and adapt to a different set of rules and procedures from those governing industrial relations. The union generally deals with an employer (or his/her representatives) who, being accountable to the entire workforce, can sign a collective agreement with the union that is legally binding on all employees. In football, since the players’ employer is the club rather than the MFA, the union has to deal with the footballers’ respective clubs.Moreover every player appoints an agent to negotiate on his behalf with the club. The demarcation line between a union section secretary and this agent will have to be well defined as the two roles may overlap. The MFA is granted full and exclusive powers by UEFA and FIFA to act as the sole arbiter in cases of disputes. This means that the union cannot refer the players’ disputes with their club to the Industrial Tribunal set up under the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (EIRA 2002), whose ruling can be appealed in the civil court.
Saviour Rizzo, Centre for Labour Studies