class=”sc-29f61514-0 fQbOYE”>
The project has been around for decades. And it works: every summer, the Swiss players’ union SAFP (Swiss Association of Football Players) offers unemployed players a training camp and vacancies.
SAFP coach is ex-GC and Lucerne striker Joao Paiva (40), who prefers to dribble the word ‘unemployed’: ‘Unemployed is not the best reference for the situation of the players. You are free and looking for a new club.”
The test games in particular are great platforms to recommend yourself to a new employer. That’s why the SAFP team plays as many games as possible. Since last Saturday, the unemployed team played against Bellinzona, GC, Aarau and on Saturday at the St. Gallen Promotion League club SC Brühl.
Squad player with no connection to Swiss football
But even Swiss football insiders start thinking when they see the squad list. In addition to the names of globetrotter Karim Rossi (29), ex-FCL talent Lino Lang (23), ex-FCZ cup winner Sangone Sarr (31) or ex-GC junior Amel Rustemoski (23), there are players who are not at all related to Swiss football. So they are neither Swiss nor trained in Switzerland, nor have they ever played here.
Although more than 50 players are registered according to Paiva, unknown kickers are ex-Bayern junior Enrico Schubert (20), Italian Ivo Rossi (19), Italo-Senegalese Lo Papy (24) and Canadian-Bosnian Adam Huskic ( 23) in the selection.
Do these foreigners, who have been brought in extra, grab the stage from the Swiss to recommend themselves? Coach Paiva defends himself and says: “In general, we have 85 to 90 percent of the players who come from Switzerland or grew up here. Union members take precedence. But the SAFP is the representative of the FIFPro (worldwide union, ed.) in Switzerland. So if there are foreign players in Switzerland and want to participate, they can do that.”
Too few free central defenders
The ex-pro emphasizes that players from the Super and Challenge League always have priority. But there are currently no centre-backs to choose from. “Three of the foreigners are central defenders.” And the German striker Schubert, like the SAFP itself, works with the Swiss company Football Leverage for mental training.
The SAFP squad is very volatile anyway – players keep jumping, which is the idea: this week Alexandre Pasche (32) says goodbye with his reference of 366 Super and Challenge League games to promote FC Baden.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
