FIFPRO condemns Roma and Mourinho for their treatment of Karsdorp

Jose Mourinho criticised

after

‘s 1-1 draw against Sassuolo in November. He said that one of his players had betrayed the team and should  leave the club in January.

Following Mourinho's interview, Karsdorp refused to attend training and was left out of the squad but he is present during their warm weather training camp in Portugal. Karsdorp has played 11 games across all competitions this season and his contract with Roma runs out in 2025.

The professional football players’ union has defended Karsdrop and slammed behaviour of Roma and Mourinho.

“FIFPRO strongly condemns AS Roma’s treatment of Rick Karsdorp, who in recent weeks has been the victim of a mobbing campaign.

“Karsdorp has been accused in public of being a “traitor”, a hurtful and baseless term that club management has failed to address or apologise for, and fans have repeatedly used to confront him and his family. Furthermore, he has been made the subject of an unjustified disciplinary case.

“These acts apparently are a way to deflect from the club’s poor recent performances and aimed to put unjustified pressure on the player. Such behaviour is incompatible with the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.

Rick Karsdorp has the full support of both FIFPRO and Dutch players’ union VVCS.”

Director of the VVCS and FIFPRO board member Louis Everard also said:

“It is obviously not the first time that we hear about players being used as scapegoats to deflect the attention from the performance and management of clubs. It is not acceptable for a club to isolate one player and treat him differently from his team-mates.”

The General Secretary of FIFPRO Jonas Baer-Hoffmann

added: “players are first and foremost employees of their clubs and that, as such, clubs have a duty of care towards them. We call on AS Roma to immediately comply with that duty of care and ensure that Rick Karsdorp is treated fairly, and that his rights are respected.”

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