FIFA launches new insurance policy for players injured on international duty

Footballer insurance

Football clubs could receive a maximum annual payout of $9.7m per player for injuries picked up on international duty under FIFA’s new insurance policy.

Delegates at the FIFA Congress held in Budapest today were told that payouts for an injured player would vary from individual to individual depending on the size of their salaries, capping it at a daily fee of $27,000 per player, according to a Reuters report.

FIFA’s secretary general Jerome Valcke said the policy would cover an injured player for a maximum of one year.

Valcke said a maximum of $91m would provide cover from 1 Sept 2012 until the policy ends on 31 December 2014.

“This is very important, it is a significant step forward,” Valcke told delegates at their meeting in the Hungarian capital.

The agreement ends a long-running dispute between FIFA and clubs, who have complained for many years that FIFA should implement cover for players injured on international duty and cannot play.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA has said it will provide its own insurance for players at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine next month.