Meet The Team: Michael Leahy

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

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

I’m currently working as the Policy Advisor and Strategic Project Coordinator at FIFPRO, sitting within the Global Policy and Strategic Relations team.

Previously, I played football professionally in Ireland for 10 years. Playing in one of Europe’s smaller, less established leagues allowed me to experience many of the important issues that FIFPRO and the domestic unions assist players with. As a member of the Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland, I gained insight into the work of player unions, as the then union representative for a couple of my former clubs. While playing, I completed my undergraduate degree in economics and politics, and two Master’s degrees in law and in business. After finishing playing, I worked in a couple of junior legal roles prior to taking up my position at FIFPRO.

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

The Global Policy and Strategic Relations team at FIFPRO is responsible for managing political relationships and strategic partnerships with external stakeholders such as FIFA, UEFA, and the World Leagues Forum. The team also manages various strategic projects with member unions and internal stakeholders, including research projects and negotiation processes. The breadth of this work means that no two weeks are ever the same, which is exciting. Working across teams on some of these projects is also very interesting, sometimes collaborating with the commercial or legal departments on different projects.

In my primary role, I support Alexander Bielefeld on men’s football and Sarah Gregorius on women’s football, managing various relationships and work streams that arise out of those projects. Internally, I coordinate our expert groups of members, which we have established for specific industry topics. These groups facilitate information sharing among members across the divisions and help to guide our policy development work. ???

One of these expert groups – on player workload and calendar in men’s football – has been instrumental in shaping the development of our policy on player workload safeguards. The upcoming PWM mid-season flash report will further highlight some of this work via a combination of FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring data, and the findings from our recent Global Player and High-Performance Coach Surveys.

Together with our member services team, I also coordinate various strategic projects that often vary in terms of project length. A recent example would be the Global Player Survey on Workload and Competitions, which sought the opinion of players globally on workload issues and competition preferences, including the biennial World Cup proposal. It was interesting to coordinate the progression of such a project, which was topical and impactful, from initial conception through the various stages until the final communication of results.

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

In simple terms: to secure better conditions for players, while working with other stakeholders to enable the sustainable development of the game and the various market environments. To achieve this, the voice of players must be appropriately represented within the decision-making structures at domestic and international level.

As the policy team and the overall organisation continues to grow and evolve, we’re also becoming more proactive and anticipatory in some of the work that we do, while constantly increasing our capabilities. For example, the economic conditions underpinning different markets is something we've begun to explore in more depth. The development of various tools, such as the Player Workload Monitoring Tool to monitor the workload of players and Foresight, which seeks to analyse the ongoing development of various hot topics within the industry, helps us to affect global change for players.

Professionally, what are you excited about right now?

Coming to work every day and getting the opportunity to learn more about an industry that I’m already extremely passionate about is exciting. Working hard to help and improve the lives of players also feels rewarding. My time at FIFPRO has coincided with a period of immense governance upheaval across the industry, which has been interesting to say the least. Competition development, The Super League, and regulatory reform are just three of the prominent political issues that have arisen over the last year, with many more on the horizon. ?

In a World Cup year, I’m looking forward to the tournament kicking off in November. It’s just a pity that Ireland won’t be there!

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

Lazy punditry and analysis. Closer to home, the governance issues and strategic mismanagement that have hindered the development of Irish football over the last 20 years, which are now finally being addressed.

What do you do to relax?

Ironically… watch football! I enjoy watching sport, mainly football, rugby, and the NFL. Squeezing in a workout most days is something that I’ve maintained since finishing up my playing career, whether it be at the gym or running in the park. Aside from that, travelling to interesting places or socialising with friends energises me.

How can people follow what you get up to?

I’m on LinkedIn, and on Twitter – @Mick_Leahy.