The Korea Professional Football Association attends the FIFPRO 60th Anniversary General Assembly. Korean Football Gap Improvement Focuses on Developing a Korean-Style Soccer Gap

Nov 26, 2025

2025 General Assembly scene. Courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association

The Korea Professional Football Association attended the '2025 International Football Association (FIFPRO) 60th Anniversary General Assembly' held in Lisbon, Portugal. At this general meeting, the realistic gap between men's and women's soccer was diagnosed, and a key policy roadmap for 2025 was announced.

FIFPRO re-emphasized 'Working Character of Players' in the field of men's football. Reexamining Jimmy Hill's achievements in making athletes recognized as `workers' rather than just athletes, he cited the protection of athletes' legal rights as his top priority.

In particular, referring to the 'Jean Marc Boseman Judgment' that changed the game of the soccer transfer market and the 'Lasana Diarra Judgment' that recently put a brake on FIFA's transfer regulations, he said he would continue to fight for the protection of players' careers and the improvement of their legal status.

In addition, it announced its plan to create a structure in which the voices of the players can be reflected in the actual policy by expanding the federation's own business and promoting financial independence to reduce dependence on sponsorship ▶ establishing horizontal relationships with football stakeholders.

2025 General Assembly scene. Courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association

FIFPRO is also paying a lot of attention to women's soccer. The treatment of still poor female soccer players and environmental issues were intensively discussed. "Unlike men's soccer, women's soccer has a very different working environment by country and region," FIFPRO said, stressing that it is urgent to close the gap between European Champions League players and Third World players.

In this regard, the data released at the General Assembly were shocking. Despite the recent increase in professional contracts, 34 percent of all female athletes are still paid less than $5,000 (about 6.9 million won) per month.

The issues of medical support and psychological support were more serious. 39% of the players did not even receive basic medical tests before participating in the competition, and 27% did not receive psychological support.

As a result, FIFPRO decided to extend the 'Anterior Cross Ligament (ACL) Injury Prevention Project', which is considered the greatest risk of injury for female athletes, and began to write the 'Women's Athletes' Workers' Rights Report' with the aim of publishing it in 2026. In addition, FIFPRO will track and investigate players participating in continental competitions (UEFA, CONMEBOL, CAF, etc.) in 2025 to see if the environment is improved.

Kim Hoon-ki, Secretary-General of the Korea Football Association, who attended the 2025 General Assembly of the International Football Association held in Lisbon, Portugal. Courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association

Kim Hoon-ki, secretary-general of the Korea Federation of Players who attended the general meeting, explained, `The results of the survey that 71 percent of female players want fair distribution of World Cup prize money and 58 percent demand the professionalization of their own leagues have great implications for the Korean Women's Soccer (WK League)."

President Kim then said "In particular, it has been confirmed that the poor medical support of female athletes mentioned in Korea is a global problem. We will improve the system so that Korean players can play in a safer and fairer environment," he stressed.

The Korea Federation of Players has continued to strive to improve the treatment of female soccer players, and will continue to lead the improvement of the system so that players can play in a safer and fairer environment through dialogue with soccer associations and federations.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.