Former Bulgaria and Aston Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov gets FIFPro award

WIGAN, ENGLAND – MAY 19: Stiliyan Petrov of Aston Villa applauds the supporters following the Barclays Premier League match between Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa at DW Stadium on May 19, 2013 in Wigan, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)

Former Bulgaria and Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov, who was struck down by acute Leukaemia, was awarded the FIFPro Merit Award for his courageous fight against the disease at the Annual FIFPro Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia last week.

The former tenacious midfielder was rewarded for establishing the Stiliyan Petrov Foundation which helps others fighting similar diseases. A grant of US $ 25,000/- was given to the head of the Bulgarian Union to hand over to Petrov.

The three day event, held from 22nd to 24th October, was attended by FIFPro Asia Board Member Anuj Kichlu and Alternate Board Member Cyrus Confectioner, who is also General Manager of the FPAI (Football Players’ Association of India).

The election of a new FIFPro President was among the leading items on the three-day agenda. Phillip Piat, from France, was elected President unopposed, with Leonardo Grosso, stepping aside after three years at the helm of the World Footballers’ Association.

An estimated 175 delegates, from Unions all over the World convened at the Grand Hotel Union Executive, in Ljubjana. In his address to the delegates the new President called upon all to treat all players, be they well known or the anonymous ones with equal respect and fairly.

Some of the biggest issues in professional football were covered, including Match-fixing, Third party ownership of players, Human Rights issues in Qatar and FIFPro’s policy on playing in extreme heat. Particular attention was paid to the potential impact at next year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil following a new study, on heat conditions. It was also debated and unanimously agreed to stamp out and punish racism.

The President of the Football Players Association of India, iconic Bhaichung Bhutia, was selected to be part of the Federation International Football Professionals, Technical Committee and the General Manager, Cyrus Confectioner part of the committee of Corporate Social Responsibility.

The Special guest was Slovenia’s Prime Minister, Alenka Bratusek, who arrived to open the Conference.