KEY POLICIES AND REPORTS
The World Players Association is the leading voice of organised players in the governance of world sport. It brings together 85,000 players across professional sport through more than 100 player associations in over 60 countries.
Below is a list of key policies, reports and resources.
The world’s leading player associations developed the Universal Declaration of Player Rights (UDPR) to protect players from ongoing and systemic human rights violations in global sport.
Sport is a multi-billion dollar industry, with sporting bodies generating tremendous revenues on the back of the labour of athletes. The World Player Rights Policy details what sports bodies need to do to champion their responsibility towards players.
The World Player Development, Wellbeing, Transition and Retirement Standard is the first instrument of its kind and a benchmark for the development, negotiation and measurement of player development and wellbeing services across sport.
World Players has a steadfast commitment to embedding the human rights of the players and everyone who makes sport possible. That commitment means we must lead by example through our constitutional obligations and the effort we make to ensure human rights are respected within the governance of our organization.
Sport must be a safe space for children shielding them from violence and abuse such as sexual harassment and trafficking.
World Players Association, The Army of Survivors and the Sport & Rights Alliance jointly release expert guidelines to best deliver justice and support for survivors of abuse in sport.
COVID-19 deeply impacted the global sport industry. This multi-billion-dollar industry experienced a global shutdown putting many millions of jobs and livelihoods in jeopardy including for players, and World Players worked hard to ensure that players were supported in return to play and the rebuilding of the sports industry.
World Players believes in organising. This means ensuring the voice of the players is heeded in the leadership of sport, especially through collective bargaining.
Male and female players share common dreams and sacrifices in the pursuit of their sporting careers. Yet women receive less pay, social protection and recognition for their work. The Gender Equality Principles set out to eliminate discriminationa and promote equality in world sport.
In 2011, player associations from around the world came together in Nyon, Switzerland, to explore the need to address global sport's governance crisis and reposition athletes at the centre of sport.
As a result of data and technology maturity, the ability to collect and use athletes’ data has greatly increased – and players should have a significant say in how their data is being used.
Sport must undertake ongoing due diligence of its governance, regulatory and contractual activities and relationships to identify whether they adequately protect a player’s economic rights, and the impact these may have on his or her livelihood, economic circumstances and financial wellbeing.
For well over a half-century, severe human rights harm and suffering has been caused in and through sport, while at the same time, sport has continued to promote its humanitarian values publicly. Simultaneously, global sport has resisted and escaped state intervention and consequently legal accountability by utilising its regulatory power and international arbitration to enforce its rules transnationally.
In the first global study to look at elite athletes’ experiences in sport as children, more than half reported having suffered emotional abuse at least once, the World Players Association said in a new report released today at the 4th World Players’ Development Conference.
World Players Association (World Players) issued a report focused on the economics of international sport governing bodies (SGBs). World Players’ analysis outlines the tremendous revenue generated by SGBs through exploiting the labour and economic rights of players in contrast with the paltry share of revenue they receive.
Participation in sport should provide children with the joy of play, and with an opportunity for physical and mental development and growth. However, violence and abuse are too often a part of the child athlete’s experience. As a result, sport has been a cause of pain, fear, and distress for far too many.
Acknowledging the challenges in prioritising athlete welfare against medals and trophies, player associations are looking to establish policies, processes and support mechanisms to ensure survivors of abuse and harassment in sport have access to remedial justice and holistic supporting services.