The PPF:

The Professional Players Federation, formerly the Institute of Professional Sport, was established in 1991 by the Central Council of Physical Recreation. The PPF is a not-for-profit body which provides a forum for the professional player associations to work together for the betterment of professional sport. All our income is from the member associations and commercial sponsorship, we receive no government funding.

Garth Crooks was our first chairman, a position he held for fifteen years before passing the baton on to Brendon Batson in 2006. Since the formation of the Institute of Professional Sport, the player associations have gone from strength to strength. The players have helped to lead the way in the promotion of a number of ground breaking initiatives in sport, such as anti-racism and community programmes. The Institute and its members have also supported the formation of new player associations with advice and practical support.

In 2004, the Institute of Professional Sport moved away from the Central Council of Physical Recreation and started to take greater control over its operations. In 2007 the decision was taken to re-launch the organisation with a fresh impetus and a new name. Nevertheless our aims and objectives remain the same – to promote, protect and develop the collective interests of professional sports players in the United Kingdom.

Welcome to the website of the Professional Players Federation, the national organisation for the professional player associations in the United Kingdom. There are over 15,600 professional sportsmen and women in Britain and the PPF is dedicated to promoting, protecting and developing the collective interests of these players. CLICK HERE

We do this through:

• Providing a forum for the member player associations.
• Undertaking initiatives to promote professional sportsmen and women.
• Representing the collective views of the professional players associations to goverment and the media.
• The following areas give a few examples of the areas of work that the Professional Players Federation covers on behalf of the membership.
• The following areas give a few examples of the areas of work that the Professional Players Federation covers on behalf of the membership.

Sports Betting Integrity:

Since 2010 the PPF has been in a ground breaking partnership with Betfair, bet365 and Ladbrokes to promote sports betting integrity education to professional sportsmen and women. Through the provision of funding and expertise the partnership has helped the member player associations to deliver highly effective and innovative education to around 5,000 players each year. For an update on this work please click here

In 2014 the PPF became one of the first sports bodies to receive funding from the Responsible Gambling Trust to develop and deliver tutor training on identifying, treating and preventing problem gambling for professional athletes. This work is being developed and delivered in partnership with Gamcare.

Mental Wellbeing:

In 2013, the PPF helped coordinate a significant piece of research into how professionals transition from their sports. This looked at the difficulties players faced both mentally, physically and financially in retirement. The research is available here and was launched at a big conference on mental health in September.

A section of the conference was recorded and broadcast by Radio 5 Live and is available as a podcast. We continue to work with the members to promote mental wellbeing initiatives within sport as well as the importance of dual career preparation for athletes.

See the Mental Health Charter on the Drop Down Menu:

Anti-Doping:

The PPF and its members are committed to drug free sport and support fair, effective and proportionate drug testing regimes that recognise and respect athletes’ legal rights as both employees and European citizens.

The majority of sports in the UK are subject to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code. The Code imposes a number of restrictions upon athletes that have the potential to conflict with national and European legislation, including human rights, the working time directive and data protection laws.

The PPF is committed to working with partners towards a drugs policy that balances the needs of the drug testers against the rights of players whilst recognising the specifics of professional sport in the UK.

Europe:

The PPF is an active member of EU Athletes, the European federation of player associations, and is working hard with its partners to ensure that the rights of players are recognised, promoted and protected within European policy discussions, ideally through Social Dialogue