PFA Lithuania

The Lithuanian Association of Professional Footballers was established in 2020

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

FK “Riteriai” expelled from the TOPLYGA

FK Riteriai have been expelled from the championship. The club, which has faced financial difficulties since the very start of the season, has been removed from the TOPLYGA.

Almost a year and a half of chaos at the club—financial crisis, matches that failed to take place, a lack of basic respect for players, and poor training conditions—led to this decision. After convening, the Lithuanian Football Federation Appeals Committee decided to remove the club from the Lithuanian football map.

PFA Lietuva President Arūnas Klimavičius said:

“What I predicted is exactly what happened. The new owner, it seems, was more of an impostor than a person who understands football and finances. But that is already the past; a great deal of work lies ahead in helping the players.

Since the club has been expelled but the contracts are still valid, PFA Lietuva will prepare the documents so that the footballers become free agents and can move to other clubs. Naturally, not everyone will find a new workplace immediately, so we will organize a high-quality training process to ensure that the players remain in good physical condition.

The debts are significant. I have already discussed this with Edgaras Stankevičius, President of the Lithuanian Football Federation, and with Gintaras Staniulis, President of the TOPLYGA. We must all work together to find solutions and funding to cover the debts. I also see additional ways in which I can contribute to ensuring that players recover the money they have earned. From this very moment, we will make every effort to provide players with comprehensive support so that they can continue their careers at other clubs in the future.

As for Lithuanian football, this is an opportunity to analyze the situation, identify the reasons why such an extraordinary case occurred, and make sure that we avoid similar situations in the future.”

[FIFPRO @FIFPRO]

All you need to know about the new FIFPRO and @FIFAcom agreement and what it means for players ⤵️

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

A Footballer Helping a Footballer in a Won Case

We are pleased to share a story that perfectly reflects the strength and unity of the footballers’ community beyond the pitch.

At the time, FK “TransINVEST” footballer Ernest Černiavskij, who was studying law at Vilnius University, was completing an internship at the PFA Lithuania organization. It was during this period that documents were being prepared regarding the unlawful unilateral termination of a contract related to the dismissal of footballer Kajus Stankvičius from FK “Riteriai”.

Under the supervision of attorney Martynas Kalvelis, Ernest was entrusted with preparing case documents and reviewing international practices. As time later showed, their cooperation contributed to a successful outcome—the footballer won the case.

This is an excellent example of how footballers can help one another not only on the pitch but also in life. It is encouraging to see the association contributing not only to the protection of players’ rights, but also to their professional growth, the development of their competencies, and the building of a strong footballers’ community.

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

The two-day FIFPRO General Assembly has concluded in Prague.

This event was also special for the Lithuanian football community – Arūnas Klimavičius, President of PFS Lithuania, presented the project “Empowering Lithuanian Footballer,” which was implemented in Lithuania with the support of FIFPRO Europe.

We sincerely thank the Czech Players’ Association for the excellent organization, warm welcome, and a wonderfully arranged evening program! @cafhcz @FIFPRO

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

Record-breaking women's A-League match – 1841 spectators watched the duel between FK Žalgiris and MFA Žalgiris-MRU.

It is also encouraging that the attendance of the men's team, compared to last year, has increased several times 📈

A huge compliment to the FK Žalgiris communication team – great work that really brought people to the stadium! 👏

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

The Lithuanian Football Federation General Assembly was held in Kaunas, attended by PFA Lithuania President Arūnas Klimavičius.

During the meeting, all necessary procedures for the federation were completed and a new member was accepted - the Lithuanian Beach Soccer Association. Congratulations on joining the LFF community and wish you successful work and victories!

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

FK Riteriai protest during TOPLYGA match!

The players of the financially struggling football club FK Riteriai started a protest action during the TOPLYGA match against FK Hegelmann. At the beginning of the match, the players squatted on the pitch for about 10 seconds, then continued the match and won a point.

"PFA Lithuania knew and supported this protest action. This is another signal that the club is in financial chaos. On Friday evening, the club transferred 150 euros to the players - this is only part of the remuneration. I would like to remind you that after the end of the first round of the TOP League, for some players this is the only money they received from the club. I consider this money transfer to be a disrespect for the players by the club management and an admission that the club is in financial disarray. I would also like to remind you that the club president, Janas Nevoina, is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Lithuanian Football Federation, responsible for the future of Lithuanian football. I have a serious question - can a person who is unable to get his club in order can make decisions that determine the future of all Lithuanian football? In my opinion, such people should not remain in the governing bodies of the LFF," says Arūnas Klimavičius, President of PFA Lithuania.

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

PFA Lithuania office was visited by representatives of Bongo CO Mangirdas Mirauskas and Deividas Daraškevičius, contributing to the association's communication issues.

During the meeting, the upcoming joint work of PFA Lithuania and Bongo CO, planned PFA Lithuania projects for 2026 and daily work in football were discussed.

We are happy with the cooperation and believe that together we will implement meaningful work that will contribute to even stronger visibility and growth of PFA Lithuania!

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

The Lithuanian women's national team defeated the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team at home and advanced to first place in the group! 🔥🇱🇹

Congratulations to the team!

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

The PFA Lithuania office was visited by LFF Integrity Officer Laura Augytė-Kamarauskienė.

We are pleased that the fair play situation in Lithuanian football is improving—this is the result of consistent work by various institutions responsible for it. Nevertheless, we all understand that we cannot stop here.

During the meeting, we discussed future plans and objectives and agreed to strengthen further cooperation in reinforcing the principles of transparency. Insights were also shared from the UEFA-organized Fair Play Forum in Slovakia, which was attended by an LFF representative.

We thank her for the visit and will continue our efforts to ensure that Lithuanian football remains fair.

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

A workshop organized by FIFPRO is taking place in Australia, aimed at strengthening the organizational level of football players' associations and achieving even better results.

The event is attended by PFA Lithuania President Arūnas Klimavičius, along with representatives of associations from other countries.

This is a great opportunity to gain knowledge from experienced speakers who conduct such trainings all over the world, share best practices and insights that help organizations grow and strengthen.

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

PFA Lithuania supports the international initiative “Justice for Players”, a collective action against FIFA, KNVB and several national football associations. The association in Lithuania is contributing to this process to make it successful and for the footballers to achieve victory in the case.

PFA Lithuania has joined other national players’ associations, including: UNFP (France), VVCS (Netherlands), United Athletes (Belgium), VdF (Austria), SPINS (Slovenia), HUNS (Croatia), SPFBIH (Bosnia and Herzegovina), SFM (North Macedonia), SPFN (Serbia) and ČAFH (Czech Republic). This list is not final and will be expanded in the near future.

The main objective of this collective action is to ensure fair financial compensation for all professional footballers and former footballers, regardless of their nationality, who have signed contracts with European clubs, including the United Kingdom, since 2002.

The compensation is based on the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Diarra case (4 October 2024), which found that certain rules applied by FIFA infringed European Union law and were unlawful.

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

PFA Lithuania, in cooperation with FIFPRO Europe and UEFA, successfully completed the project “Empowering Future Lithuanian Footballers: Legal, Anti-Doping, and Regulatory Support”.

Having started the project in September, we visited 1-liga and TOPLYGA football clubs.

During the project, we also received guests from FIFPRO Europe and UEFA – their representatives participated in live meetings with the footballers and contributed to the meaningful discussions.

We sincerely thank the clubs for the warm welcome, the footballers – for their involvement and meaningful questions, as well as the entire PFA Lithuania team, who contributed to the success of this project. In the future, we will continue to strive to contribute to the well-being of Lithuanian football by creating and implementing new initiatives and meaningful work.

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

PFA Lithuania visited the FC “Minija”team!

During the meeting, the footballers were provided with information about:
⚖️ LFF and FIFA legal regulations
📝 nuances of contracts and training compensation
🚫 anti-doping
🎮 prevention of match-fixing

The project will cover all I-league teams, and in 2026. will continue with meetings with A-league clubs

PFA Lithuania is implementing the “Empowering Future Lithuanian Footballers: Legal, Anti-Doping, and Regulatory Support” project in cooperation with FIFPRO Europe.

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

FIFPRO Europe President David Terrier has become the first player representative to receive voting rights on the UEFA Executive Committee.
This is a historic step - for the first time, players have a permanent place with voting rights at the highest level of European football governance.

PFA Lithuania is pleased with the focused and consistent work of FIFPRO and this significant assessment, which will have a positive impact on all members of the association.

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

The best of 2025 have been chosen at the Lithuanian Football Awards! 🏆⚽️

This season's winners were announced during the Lithuanian Football Awards ceremony held in Kaunas:
🌟 Best Lithuanian Footballer – Gvidas Gineitis
🌟 Best Lithuanian Female Footballer – Rimantė Jonušaitė

The following awards, established by PFA Lithuania, were also presented:
💛 Best Lithuanian A League Footballer – Amine Benchaibas
💛 Best Lithuanian Women's A League Footballer – Laura Spenazzatto

We sincerely congratulate all the winners and nominees!

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

At the invitation of PFA Lithuania, sports law legend Jean-Louis Dupont visited Vilnius together with his colleague Martin Hissel.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate you that such well-known and influential people found the time to come to Lithuania and meet with PFA Lithuania. This shows that we are moving in the right direction, and the name of PFA Lithuania is also known internationally. The most important thing is that we discussed common plans for the future - we all agreed that there are still areas where the rights of football players must be defended even more firmly," says PFA Lithuania President Arūnas Klimavičius.

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

The annual General Meeting of PFA Lithuania was held in Vilnius.
During the meeting:
📍 The Association's 2025 financial report was approved
📍 The President's 2025 activity report was presented
📍 Future plans and strategic goals were discussed
We sincerely thank all the members who gathered in large numbers for their active participation.

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

PFA Lietuva 🤝 FIFPRO Europe 🤝 UEFA

[PFA Lithuania @LithuaniaPfa]

Representatives of FIFPRO Europe and UEFA visited Lithuania.

Joachim Walltin, FIFPRO Europe General Secretary, Nicholas Beazley, UEFA Senior Stakeholder Relations Expert and Mateo Peyrouzet, FIFPRO Divisional coordinator, visited the PFA Lithuania office. During their visit to Lithuania, the guests participated in an association meeting with Vilnius "Žalgiris" football players and watched the European futsal match between the Lithuanian and Czech national teams held in Lithuania.
The main purpose of the visit is to evaluate the project "Empowering Lithuanian Footballers: Legal, Anti-Doping, and Regulatory Support" implemented by PFA Lithuania, as well as to discuss future goals and possible new joint projects.
We sincerely thank the guests for their attention, insights and shared thoughts, which will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the members of the PFA Lithuania association. @FIFPRO