Dribble Diaries

Keyly Peralta’s legal victory is far more than a wage dispute resolved in a tribunal. It is a landmark moment for women’s football in Peru and, more broadly, a powerful example of how one player, backed by collective representation, can force the sport to confront the reality that professionalism must include labour rights, not just pay cheques and publicity. Her case matters because it establishes a precedent: women footballers are workers with enforceable rights, not symbolic participants in a game that only fully protects men when things go wrong. What makes the story so significant is not only that Peralta recovered the full amount owed to her, but how the case was won. The club involved had labelled the arrangement a “sporting agreement” rather than a standard employment contract, a distinction that can often be used to blur the line between professional labour and informal sporting participation. That distinction is exactly where many women footballers around the world are vulner...

The FIFPRO World XI has been unveiled, and Liverpool, Manchester City, and Real Madrid dominate the squad. Six of the 10 winners of the award, which was voted on by over 20,000 players, are Real Madrid, Champions League winners. Manchester City has four, while Liverpool's Virgil Van Dijk fills the final position. The FIFPRO World XI for Women's Football has also been released, with several England Lionesses elected to the squad. The team is chosen by the players themselves, with 7,000 casting their votes for this particular prize. Here's the XI they selected... Lucy Bronze of Chelsea has been named to the team for the seventh time in a row, joining England teammates Mary Earps, Alex Greenwood, Kiera Walsh, and Lauren James. None of the USWNT members make the roster, while Spain takes three spots.

The 26 players nominated for the 2024 FIFPRO Men's World XI have been announced. It is an all-star team chosen by and for the players, and it is the only global award decided entirely by professional footballers. The men in contention to form the team are as follows: Goalkeepers Ederson, Emiliano Martínez and Manuel Neuer. Defenders Dani Carvajal, Rúben Dias, Virgil van Dijk, Jeremie Frimpong, Antonio Rüdiger, William Saliba, and Kyle Walker. Midfielders Jude Bellingham, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, Jamal Musiala, Rodri, and Federico Valverde. Forwards Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi, Cole Palmer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Vinícius Júnior, and Lamine Yamal. The team will be formally confirmed on December 9th.

FIFA has warned players that if nothing is done to alleviate the mounting strain on their workload, they will "take matters into their own hands," with players' union FIFPro indicating that strike action is not out of the question. In the midst of an increasingly congested fixture calendar, FIFPro Europe president David Terrier declared "an emergency" due to players' mounting mental and physical exhaustion. Terrier advocated for regulations to limit the number of games after the FIFPro player workload and recovery season review revealed some concerning figures. As part of the investigation, a player poll revealed that more than half of respondents had been forced to play while already injured, and 82% of managers had fielded a player they knew needed to rest. "We are dealing with one of our sport's most pressing issues, which has arisen as a result of a government failure," Terrier stated at the FIFPro event in London. "It has caused serio...