FIFPRO revolutionizes data management: we now have a platform that changes football
As noted in a recent article focusing on the increasing value of data in the world of sport 4.0, players' personal data has become crucial in analyzing performance and preventing injuries. Until now, this data was collected and managed by clubs or third parties, leaving players with little autonomy. In an official statement on February 11, 2025, the world players' union announced the launch of a new digital platform for the management and monetization of players' personal data, developed in collaboration with Sports Data Labs. The initiative, called FIFPRO Technologies, represents a real breakthrough because it will allow footballers to store, control and share their personal data in a secure and transparent way.
How will this platform concretely change data management? What advantages will it bring to the players?
According to the press release, the platform will aim to give players full control over the information collected during their career, allowing them to decide who can access it and for what purposes. In addition, it will offer the players the opportunity to monetize the data collected. Until now this information has only been exploited by clubs, sports analytics companies and other operators in the sector, often without adequate consent or compensation.
Players' data: what is the current regulatory framework?
The collection and use of players' personal data is governed by state regulations or, in the case of the European Union, by the General Data Protection Regulation ('GDPR').
The GDPR defines personal data as information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. Some of this data, such as biometric data and genetic data, enjoys special protection under the GDPR, as it concerns very sensitive information.
How is data protected?
The GDPR states that the use of data is subject to the free and revocable consent of the person to whom the data relates. However, in a professional setting such as football, compliance with this requirement is not always guaranteed.
In addition, the evolution of artificial intelligence has made it necessary to have a new European regulation to support GDPR: the AI Act. This regulation, which came into force on 1 August 2024, provides for some specific rules aimed at protecting the processing of personal data, through limitations on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems for remote biometric identification.
What are the risks generated by AI applications?
In football, the use of AI as a tool for data collection raises some significant problems. First of all, if an algorithm analyzes the performance of players to assess their form or the risk of injury, it must be clear how and on what data this tool is trained on avoid so-called "closed box" information. By the same logic, if personal data is used in transfers or contract renewals, it is necessary to avoid algorithms penalizing some players as a result of working from incorrect parameters or misleading results. In essence, those who develop and use these tools must ensure that they are reliable, verifiable and secure, to avoid manipulation or errors which could have a detrimental impact on athletes' careers.
The regulatory framework in the football landscape and the types of data collected
In the football landscape, there is no international sports legislation governing the collection, exploitation and sharing of personal data, and this creates uncertainties and grey areas. There are some non-harmonised regulations that inaccurately oblige clubs to hold players' medical records, mainly containing data relating to health and previous injuries. In Italy, on the basis of specific legislative provisions, the Internal Organizational Rules of the F.I.G.C. requires clubs to prepare a report concerning a player's medical history. Similarly, at international level, the UEFA Medical Regulations require players and doctors of teams participating in UEFA competitions to prepare "medical records", updated at least annually. These files contain minimal information on the physical and medical state of the players and, while in Italy they are compulsorily transmitted to the new club in the event of a player's transfer, this obligation does not exist in international transfers.
The information contained in these documents should be limited to essential data, such as weight, height, previous injuries, and should not include, for example, performance data, such as oxygenation levels, recovery speed, muscle strength, running speed, shooting power, etc. Until now, the grey area and probable offense has concerned precisely this advanced performance data, which is collected by clubs or third parties without oversight by the players.
What types of personal data is systematically collected by clubs on athletes?
- football data, relating to the movements and performance of the players, collected on the field during matches or training sessions (percentage of successful passes, accuracy of shots, number of tackles won, etc.);
- event data that can be observed during matches and collected without the aid of technical tools (goals scored, assists provided, disciplinary sanctions, etc.);
- biometric data, obtained from specific technical processing and relating to the physical, physiological or behavioural characteristics of an individual, which allows or confirms their unique characteristics, including by means of wearable sensors (so-called "biometric data" wearables);
- data relating to the athlete's health, both physical and mental;
- Tracking data, relating to the position and movements of a player, obtained through the use of optical tracking technologies and wearables; such data does not include health data or biometric data.
Among these types of data, those that take on the most value for clubs and third-party companies (e.g. betting companies or video game producers) are biometric and tracking data, which pertain to the image as well as the physical and technical-tactical performance of the player.
From legal confrontation to FIFPRO's turning point
The absence of a clear and uniform discipline on data management has already prompted players and representative associations to mobilize in the past to defend their rights. In 2021, around 850 professional footballers launched Project Red Card in the UK, a class action lawsuit against the unauthorised use and marketing of their personal data by betting companies, sports data collection platforms and statistical analysis firms.
In 2023, the team of lawyers leading the initiative sent 17 Letters Before Action to several companies involved, ordering them to cease the illegitimate exploitation of player data and threatening possible legal action. The dispute is still in the pre-litigation phase, but it has contributed to bringing the problem of the unauthorized and unregulated exploitation of players' data to the fore. In the context of this scenario, the initiative announced by FIFPRO could represent a real game changer.
How can the platform be used? And who will benefit from it?
With the new data collection platform introduced by FIFPRO, footballers will be able to create and manage their own personal data asset, and therefore:
- expand the amount of personal data available;
- demonstrate their value (including market value) with objective data, making negotiations on their fees more transparent;
- decide who, and under what conditions, can access their data: sponsors, performance analysis companies, betting companies, clubs, or maybe even just their own personal fitness coaches and medical staff;
- monetize personal data and thereby generating new sources of revenue.
Clubs could also benefit from greater transparency, certainty and accuracy of data. One notable example of an error in a data set involved former Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who said that, upon his arrival at the club, Aurelio De Laurentiis was surprised to find that his real height was 1.86 cm, and not 1.92 cm as reported on several platforms. The President joked that he should have received a refund from Genk, the transferring club. With the new platform, mistakes of this type will be impossible.
In the future, clubs could use the platform to filter players based on physical and technical characteristics. By using data in this way a universal index could be formed, capable of affecting the market value of players both positively and negatively.
Conclusion: the balance between protection and innovation
The initiative by FIFPRO and Sports Data Labs could radically change the way personal data is handled in football, putting players at the centre of the system and offering them new economic opportunities. Obviously, the new technologies used for data collection and processing will always have to comply with the rules on privacy (GDPR) and artificial intelligence (AI Act) to ensure transparency, safety and the protection of athletes' rights. It will be important to find a cohesion that allows federations, clubs and players to implement regulatory and collective bargaining frameworks in such a way as to make the novelty convenient for all stakeholders.
Is football ready for this digital turnaround? We will find out soon.
This article has been originally published by Calcio e Finanza on March 24, 2025
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