Strengthen yourself and your team: Join in and become a member!

The VDV – Your players' union

As the players' union, the VDV represents the interests of professionals and supports more than 1,400 members with professional services in the fields of financial provision for old age, protection, employment law, education, career planning, medicine, sports psychology, media training and competition integrity. In addition, the VDV runs a professionals camp every summer as a training camp and for colleagues without work, it is a springboard into work.

The VDV is ...

• a union founded in 1987 by active professional players.
• independent, democratic and a vehicle for solidarity.
• the collective voice of professionals for the benefit of ALL players. officially recognised by the DFB and LIGA.
• represented in the DFB's legal bodies (sport court and federal court). in constant contact with other players' trade unions outside Germany.

The VDV has ...

• fought for a variety of rights of participation in football.
• helped to win freedom of movement at the end of contract (Bosman ruling).
• been instrumental in introducing mandatory cardiac check ups for professionals. improved the transfer rights of players without a club.
• won many payment concessions for professional players (holiday pay etc.). co-founded the DFB-VDV pension scheme.
• helped to refine sport psychology care for players (MENTAL GESTÄRKT). established the select "VDV 11" Bundesliga team.
• worked to considerably improve preventative work in professional football concerning the integrity of competition (betting manipulation, doping).

The VDV calls for ...

• a fair balance of interests between players, clubs and associations as the basis for the successful marketing of professional football.
• collective bargaining agreements in professional football to deliver greater legal certainty in case of contentious questions.
• better protection against unpaid wages and club insolvencies, particularly in the 3rd and 4th tiers.
• a further extension to the transfer window for players without a club and ‘victims of insolvency’.
• a statutory right for professional players to participate in training and game preparations with the first team.
• better health protection (duty of sports psychology care in professional clubs, limit to the number of games played, minimum number of holidays en bloc etc.).
• improvements in terms of protection and financial provision for old age (in the event of illness, benefits such as the continuance of salary payments beyond six weeks, improved protection for the players in the event of illness, strengthening of the club's retirement provision for players, the setting up of a career fund with interim payments after a career in football has ended etc.)
• improved consideration of personal rights and the privacy of the players (adaptation of the ‘whereabouts rules’ for top players, stipulating the ‘free choice of doctor’, improvements to the protection of player data, creating more scope for the self-promotion of professionals etc.).

Strengthen yourself and your team: Join in and become a member!

Online information:

www.spielergewerkschaft.de

Telephone: 02 03 - 44 95 77

E-mail: mail