FIFA extends the insurance policy on players who are injured while on international duty

FIFA have extended the insurance policy on players who get hurt on international duty in what will come as music to the ears of clubs critical in the past of the treatment their players get when they report to play for national teams.

FIFA’s Club Protection Programme will now extend through until 2022.

Under the programme clubs are compensated if any of their players are injured while on international duty.

In recent months‚ Mamelodi Sundowns lost influential midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi to a lengthy layoff when he snapped the cruciate ligaments in his knee while training with Bafana Bafana.

SA captain Thulani Hlatshwayo had a spell out last year after suffering concussion while playing for the national team.

Clubs must contractually continue to pay their players while they are injured‚ even if such injury occurred with the national team‚ and after years of complaints of an unfair expense‚ FIFA have stepped in to offer appropriate insurance.

They will now pay up to maximum of 7‚5-million euros (about R125-million) per player although the compensation rate is calculated by the number of days a player is out of action and is based on his actual club salary.

The maximum daily rate is 20 548 euros (R340 000) but for South African players‚ whose annual salaries are well below the R5-million mark‚ it is obviously a lot lower.

Payments stop on the day the player is back available for duty at his club.

This compensation is only paid when the injury is sustained while with the national team and only during the recognised FIFA window for international matches‚ as well as major tournaments like the World Cup and African Nations Cup.

The insurance starts from the time the player leaves his club to join up with the national team and extends until he returns back again.

The insurance is also only for serious injuries that rule a player out for a period of anything longer than 28 days.

FIFA will make the payments directly to the clubs‚ who have to submit their claims via an internet portal and upload all the medical history.

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