PHOTOs: Indian Voting for FIFA/FIFPro World XI!

Indian footballers and foreigners playing professionally in India registered with the Football Players Association of India (FPAI) have started to cast their votes for the FIFA FIFPro World XI! Here some snaps of Baichung Bhutia reading about the voting procedure besides Gouramangi Singh, Nirmal Chettri, Syed Rahim Nabi and Tolgay Ozbey casting their votes.

Voting for FIFA FIFPro World XI started in India!

Indian footballers and foreigners playing professionally in India registered with the Football Players Association of India (FPAI) have started to cast their votes in the FIFA FIFPro World XI. The voting started on Saturday, September 8 with FPAI president Baichung Bhutia casting his vote.

The Indian national football team players started to casz their votes on Monday, September 10 with defender Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh being the first amongst the current Team India players.

Earlier today players from Mohun Bagan AC cast their votes and players from other I-League clubs are set to cast their votes during the 2012 Federation Cup with voting open until Wednesday, October 31.

Last year over 50,000 footballers from across the world took part in the FIFA FIFPro World XI voting.

Here a look back at last year: http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/world11/index.html

Australia's Colosimo to attend FPAI Awards 2012 in Goa

Melbourne Heart defender Simon Colosimo will be present at the FPAI organised Indian Football Awards 2012 on May 12 at the Marriott Resort & Spa Hotel in Panjim, Goa. He will be representing the Australian Professional Footballers Association as its president at the FIFPro Asia Conference on May 10/11.

Simon Colosimo has played 26 times for Australia and knows Indian defender Gouramangi Singh, who had been on trial at Melbourne Hearts a couple of seasons back.

Simon Colosimo will be able to give feedback on how the League is structured in Australia and what all is done for the players there. The A-League is a franchise based league so it will be interesting for players from India to learn from him and exchange ideas

Simon is looking forward to playing either a beach soccer match and/or attending some junior training at one of the Football Clubs in Goa.

FIFPro Division Asia to meet in Goa

The FIFPro Division Asia will meet for the first time in India for two days on May 10/11 just prior to the fourth annual FPAI Indian Football Awards 2012. The meeting will be held at the Marriot Resort & Spa Hotel in Panjim, Goa which is owned by the V.M. Salgaocar Group of Companies. The Football Players Association of India will be the hosts.

FIFPro (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballeurs Professionnels) is the International Federation of Professional Footballers, which is a worldwide representative organization for professional football players.

On May 9 the delegates from across Asia will arrive and on May 10 the FIFPro Asia Board and member nations meeting will be held. Various players from across India are expected to attend besides FPAI president Baichung Bhutia, President of the PFA Australia Simon Colosimo, and President of the New Zealand PFA and captain of national team Tim Brown. Indonesian Captain Banbang Pamungkas is also likely to attend depending on his club fixtures.

On the second day, May 11, the afternoon session will be dedicated to interaction between the club owners, Association and Federation heads, players and FIFPro to discuss the on-goings of football in India and the current situation for players in the country. Australian PFA Chairman Brendan Schwab and Japan PFA representative Takuya Yamazaki will provide invaluable opinions on contracts, etc as both of them are on the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber.

All the FIFPro Asia delegates will stay back for the FPAI Indian Football Awards on May 12 that will be held at 19.00 IST at the same hotel, the Marriot Resort & Spa Hotel in Panjim.

FPAI to host the FIFPro Asia Congress in Goa

The Football Players Association of India will this year be the hosts for the FIFPro Asia Congress, which will be held on May 10/11 at the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa at Miramar Beach in Panjim with FPAI president Baichung Bhutia representing the Indian players at the Asian level meet.

One of the key topics which the Asian FIFPro members will be discussing is the development opportunities for professional footballers in India.

Another topic which will come-up for discussions will be the implementation of a Standard Contract for all players signed with I-League clubs which other countries within FIFPro Asia have already enforced like Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

FIFPro will also be using the Congress to evaluate if a future FIFPro World Congress could be held in India with all the countries from across the globe attending. FPAI GM Anuj Kichlu will be travelling to the FIFPro Headquarters in the Netherlands in the first week of March 2012 to finalise all details after which a detailed itenary will be published by the FPAI and FIFPro.

Amongst the attendees will be the New Zealand international Tim Brown, who had captained his nation at the 2009 FIFA Confederation Cup; while FIFPro worldwide would be represented by Frederique Winia.

4th FPAI Awards 2012 on Saturday, May 12

The 4th edition of the Indian Football Awards organised by the Football Players Association of India (FPAI) will be held on Saturday, May 12 at the Goa Marriott Resort & Spa at Miramar Beach in Panjim. It will be the first time that the FPAI awards will be held in Goa after the first and third editions were held in Kolkata and in-between New Delhi played hosts to the awards.

This years FPAI Awards would have five different categories - best Young Player, best Foreign Player, best Indian Player, best Coach and Fans Player of the Year. The players of I-League clubs will be asked to cast their vote on performances in the I-League and Federation Cup with votes to be collected from April 1 onwards. The last category will be chosen by the fans through an online voting on the FPAI website which will be held from April 1 to 30.

The last few editions has seen Bollywood stars like John Abraham, Neha Dhupia and Rahul Bose grace the occasion likewise Tennis legend Leander Paes. And with Goa not too far away from Mumbai the organising FPAI hopes that the glamour factor will be also there at this years event.

The FPAI has already gotten support from the V.M. Salgaocar Group and Churchill Brothers SC Pvt. Ltd, who both have agreed to partially sponsor the official awards dinner on May 12, which the FPAI is thankful but the FPAI are still on the lookout for further sponsorship to host another great evening for the Indian footballers.

Besides the players the FPAI expects the owners and management of the I-League clubs from Goa as well from across India to attend the awards evening besides attendees of the FIFPro Asia Congress will be held prior to the awards on May 10/11 in Goa.

VIDEO: FIFPro Black Book Eastern Europe

The first edition of the FIFPro Black Book Eastern Europe is a sad compilation of violence and racism. FIFPro, the global football players body, has officially presented the first copy of the FIFPro Black Book Eastern Europe to representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament and Europol.

This video illustrates some of the problems footballers face in Eastern Europe.