{"id":27032,"date":"2025-02-10T13:47:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T12:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/?post_type=news&p=27032"},"modified":"2025-02-10T13:52:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T12:52:50","slug":"world-player-health-and-safety-summit-highlights-need-for-player-centred-change","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/news\/world-player-health-and-safety-summit-highlights-need-for-player-centred-change\/","title":{"rendered":"World Player Health and Safety Summit highlights need for player centred change"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNI World Players, a sector of UNI Global Union, in partnership with the EuroLeague Players Association (ELPA), successfully convened the inaugural Player Health and Safety Summit in Matar\u00f3, Spain, from January<\/span> 29-30, 2025.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Bringing together almost 80 participants representing player associations from 13 different sports and 20 different countries, the Summit provided a platform for senior player association leaders, athlete well-being experts and key stakeholders to discuss critical health and safety issues affecting professional athletes globally.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The meeting identified and addressed the critical risks to player health and safety that are prevalent throughout the global sport industry. These risks include the often-unilateral decisions made by sport governing bodies that are putting many players at the limit in relation to the calendar and scheduling; mental health challenges; heat; concussion and taking a tailored approach to address gender specific risks for women players at the industry rapidly professionalizes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

World Players will now assemble an expert group of player association representatives to work collaboratively to address occupational safety and health (OSH) on an ongoing basis. This will include intensive capacity building for player associations so they can organize players around the issue and bargain best practice standards.Throughout the summit, experts and attendees engaged in high-level discussions on governance, safeguarding, labour rights and the fundamental importance of athletes in shaping policies that impact their careers and well-being \u2013 \u2018nothing about us, without us.\u2019\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Matthew Graham, Head of UNI World Players, said:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cHealth and safety is a fundamental right at work and should not be compromised by sport specific regulations that expose players to risk of harm. The inaugural Player Health & Safety equipped player associations with best practice solutions to ensure the rights of players are protected on and off the field of play by spotting the hazard, assessing the risk and making changes to protect the right of athletes.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

World Players will advocate for regulatory reform with stakeholders, including the European Commission and International Labour Organization, to ensure sport rules align with fundamental labour rights and standards<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Bostjan Nachbar, Managing Director of ELPA echoed:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

“The Summit was a resounding success, bringing together a diverse group of experts, medical professionals and player association leaders to foster meaningful conversations and drive progress in the area of player well-being.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The two-day gathering included dedicated sessions on the power of collective bargaining, the role of strategic litigation in advancing player rights, and the responsibility of sports governing bodies to embed player rights through the prism of international OSH standards. Delegates also explored pathways for monitoring and evaluating workload and its impacts, combating online abuse, and taking a holistic approach to player mental health.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Summit demonstrated a clear need for best practices to be developed, shared and embedded across the global sport industry to ensure a safer and healthier future for its most essential and precious asset \u2013 the players themselves.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

UNI World Players, part of UNI Global Union, is the exclusive global voice of organized players<\/span><\/i> \u00a0<\/span>and athletes across professional sport. It brings together 85,000 players through more than 100<\/span><\/i> \u00a0<\/span>player associations in over 60 countries. Its role is to ensure that the voice of organized players<\/span><\/i> \u00a0<\/span>is heard at the highest levels in the decision-making of international sport.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNI World Players, a sector of UNI Global Union, in partnership with the EuroLeague Players Association (ELPA), successfully convened the inaugural Player Health and Safety Summit in Matar\u00f3, Spain, from January 29-30, 2025.\u00a0 Bringing together almost 80 participants representing player associations from 13 different sports and 20 different countries, the Summit provided a platform for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":27034,"template":"","categories":[41],"global-issues":[],"sectors":[20],"cross-sector-groups":[],"workers-rights":[],"regions":[],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-27032","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","sectors-world-players"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWorld Player Health and Safety Summit highlights need for player centred change<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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