Council of Europe: UNFP's collective complaint under the European Social Charter declared admissible

"The French National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) has become the first players’ union and sports organisation to have a collective complaint under the European Social Charter declared admissible by the European Committee of Social Rights - representing a landmark moment for the global players’ movement and for the protection of fundamental workers’ rights in professional sport", FIFPRO Europe, of which UNFP is a member, announced on 08/05/2026.

The European Committee of Social Rights is an institution of the Council of Europe responsible for monitoring the implementation, by Member States, of the European Social Charter, a text signed in 1961 and revised in 1996 that sets out rights and freedoms while establishing a monitoring system to ensure that they are respected by the States parties.

"The Committee’s decision, adopted unanimously on 16/03/2026, finds that Complaint No. 247/2025 - UNFP v. France - satisfies all conditions for admissibility under the Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter. It paves the way for a full examination of whether France has…