The Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballeurs Professionnels, usually known by the abbreviation FIFPro, is a worldwide representative organization for professional football players. At the moment there are 42 national players associations who are member of FIFPro.

Contents 1 Brief history 2 The Board 3 Awards 3.1 World XI 3.2 World Player of the Year 3.3 Young Player of the Year 4 External links

[edit] Brief history

On 15 December 1965, representatives of the French, Scottish, English, Italian, and Dutch players' associations met in Paris, with the purpose of setting up an international federation for footballers.

[edit] The Board

Current: FIFPro Board

President: Gordon Taylor (PFA, England)

General-Secretary: Theo van Seggelen (VVCS, Netherlands)

Vice-presidents: Philippe Piat (UNFP, France), Leonardo Grosso (AIC, Italy), Gerardo G. Movilla (AFE, Spain), Jorge Domínguez (FAA, Argentina)

Secretary to the FIFPro board: Frederique Winia (Netherlands)

[edit] Awards

In 2005, FIFPro launched its inaugural "World XI Player Awards", "World Player of the Year", and "Young Player of the Year" awards.

[edit] World XI

The World XI are chosen by the footballers themselves from a list of candidates for each position. The list is generated by the awards committee itself.

Season	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
2004–05	Dida (Milan)	Paolo Maldini (Milan) Alessandro Nesta (Milan) John Terry (Chelsea) Cafu (Milan)	Claude Makélélé (Chelsea) Frank Lampard (Chelsea)' Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid) Ronaldinho (Barcelona)	Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) Andriy Shevchenko (Milan)
2005–06	Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)	Lilian Thuram (Juventus) John Terry (Chelsea) Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus) Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus)	Andrea Pirlo (Milan) Kaká (Milan) Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)	Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) Thierry Henry (Arsenal) Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
2006–07	Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)	Alessandro Nesta (Milan) John Terry (Chelsea) Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid) Carles Puyol (Barcelona)	Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United) Kaká (Milan) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool F.C)	Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Didier Drogba (Chelsea) Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
2007–08	Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)	John Terry (Chelsea) Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) Carles Puyol (Barcelona) Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)	Xavi (Barcelona) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) Kaká (Milan)	Lionel Messi (Barcelona) Fernando Torres (Liverpool) Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United)

• John Terry is the only player to have been nominated in every FIFPro World XI team, while Zinedine Zidane had been nominated in the 2004–05 and 2005–06 teams before his retirement in 2006.
• Kaka and Ronaldinho have been nominated three times.

[edit] World Player of the Year

The player with the most votes in the World XI balloting is also named World Player of the Year.

Season	Player	Team
2004–05	Ronaldinho	Barcelona
2005–06	Ronaldinho	Barcelona
2006–07	Kaká	Milan
2007–08	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United

[edit] Young Player of the Year

Two players are chosen for this award; one by the awards committee, and the other by fans.

Year	Player (Club) (by awards committee)	Player (Club) (by fans - known as the Special Young Player of the Year)
2004–05	Wayne Rooney ( Manchester United)	Cristiano Ronaldo ( Real MadridReal Madrid)
2005–06	Lionel Messi ( Barcelona)	Cristiano Ronaldo ( Manchester United)
2006–07	Lionel Messi ( Barcelona)	Lionel Messi ( Barcelona)
2007–08	Lionel Messi ( Barcelona)	Lionel Messi ( Barcelona)

[edit] External links

• FIFPro Official Website
• FIFPro World XI Website