Meet the Team: Mateo Peyrouzet García-Si?eriz

In this series, we'll be introducing you to the great people who work at FIFPRO .

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Tell us about yourself, what is your current role, and what’s your background?

I’m Mateo, and I was born and raised in Madrid, Spain – a city and country where football is more than a sport or a form of entertainment. I joined FIFPRO just over a year ago in the role of Divisional Coordinator, a position that was created to support the regional entities (divisions) that structure the work of FIFPRO’s member unions at a continental level. Prior to joining FIFPRO, I studied and worked in the field of international politics, before transitioning to the governance side of football, which FIFPRO is central to as the global voice of players.

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What do you do at FIFPRO? What does an average week look like?

There are different layers to the work I do – the main one involves supporting the administration of our respective divisions, working together with the general secretaries to implement decisions made by the player union representatives who form the board.

For instance, I assist the general secretary of FIFPRO Europe, Joachim Walltin , in managing the day-to-day operations of an entity that comprises 36 player unions and represents the collective voice of football players in conversations with professional leagues, clubs, supporter groups, and UEFA.

I perform a similar role for FIFPRO Asia/Oceania, assisting the general secretary, Shoko Tsuji .

Another aspect of my role involves facilitating the exchange of information and best practices across the divisions and our global administration.

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What are you aiming to achieve with the work you do?

My main objective is to enhance the work of the divisions and support their growth in their respective regions, especially in building their leverage when engaging with the confederations and other regional stakeholders to advance the collective interests of players.

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Professionally, what are you excited about right now?

It is certainly exciting to see FIFPRO Europe taking decisive steps to reform a competition calendar which clearly is not working for players. A lot of work has been done in recent years by our team to address the problem through data and dialogue with other stakeholders, and it is great to see players are now speaking up to denounce the problem. On a related note, FIFPRO Asia/Oceania and FIFPRO Africa are showing, through very interesting research, how football could reach new heights in the region if governing bodies listened more to what the players and other stakeholders are saying.

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If you could change one thing about football, what would it be?

It goes back to what I mentioned above – we need football’s governing bodies to prioritise quality over quantity of games and competitions, and to finally start taking responsibility for the issue they have created.

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What do you do to relax?

As my family and friends can confirm, a good share of my time outside work goes into watching games, highlights, and other football-related content. I’m always keen to use the excuse that all this time feeds back into my work, somehow. I also follow Formula 1; I think the intense pressure that drivers face to deliver results constantly throughout their careers is comparable to the pressure faced by professional football players.

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How can people follow what you get up to?

I am happy to connect on LinkedIn, and while I am not the most active social platform user, I’m @PGSMateo on X.