Privacy Notice

PFA Ireland

Last updated: June 2026

1. Who we are

Professional Footballers' Association Ireland (PFA Ireland) is the representative body for professional and semi-professional footballers in the Republic of Ireland. We are the data controller in respect of the personal data described in this notice.

This notice explains what data we collect about you, why we collect it, how we use it, and what rights you have under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Acts 1988–2018.

PFA Ireland

Address: Room 214, Players Union Offices, FAI Building, National Sports Campus, Abbotstown, Dublin 15, D15 X8PD

Email: info@pfai.ie

2. What personal data we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

Members and players

Name, date of birth, nationality, and contact details (address, email, phone)
Club, league, contract status, and career history
Membership records, subscription payments, and correspondence
Survey responses and feedback provided to us
Education programme enrolment and progress records
Welfare referral and support records (where relevant)

Website visitors

IP address and browser/device information
Pages visited and time spent on site (via cookies – see Section 11)
Information submitted through contact or enquiry forms

Event and programme participants

Name, contact details, and attendance records
Dietary requirements or accessibility needs (where collected)
Photographs or video footage taken at PFA Ireland events (where consent is given)

Job applicants

CV, cover letter, references, and interview records

3. How we use your personal data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

Membership administration – managing your membership, processing payments, and keeping membership records up to date
Player representation – providing industrial relations, legal, and welfare support to members
Education and development – administering education programmes, tracking enrolment and completion, and issuing certificates
Welfare and mental health programmes – coordinating player welfare services including mental health and wellbeing initiatives
Communications – sending you information about PFA Ireland news, campaigns, events, and services relevant to you as a member or subscriber
Research and advocacy – analysing anonymised or aggregated data to inform policy positions, campaigns, and reports on issues affecting professional footballers in Ireland
Voting and elections – administering member votes, awards, and elections
Legal obligations – complying with our obligations under employment law, data protection law, and applicable regulations
Website operation – maintaining the security and functionality of our website

4. Legal basis for processing

We rely on one or more of the following legal bases under Article 6 GDPR when processing your personal data:

Contract – processing is necessary to perform our membership agreement with you or to take steps at your request before entering into such an agreement
Legal obligation – processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (for example, under employment law or tax law)
Legitimate interests – processing is necessary for our legitimate interests as a trade union and representative body (for example, advocacy, research, and communications with members), where these are not overridden by your interests or rights
Consent – where we have asked for and received your consent (for example, for certain marketing communications or photography at events)
Vital interests – in exceptional circumstances, to protect your vital interests or those of another person

Where we process your data on the basis of consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us at dataprotection@pfai.ie. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

5. Special category data

Some of the data we hold may be "special category" data under Article 9 GDPR. This includes data relating to:

Physical or mental health and wellbeing
Trade union membership
Racial or ethnic origin

We process special category data only where one of the additional conditions in Article 9(2) GDPR applies. In most cases, this will be:

Employment, social security, and social protection – processing necessary for the purposes of carrying out our obligations and exercising our rights as a representative body in the field of employment and social security law (Article 9(2)(b))
Explicit consent – where you have given us your explicit consent (Article 9(2)(a))
Legal claims – where processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims (Article 9(2)(f))

We treat all special category data with the highest level of care and restrict access to authorised personnel only.

6. Who we share your data with

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it with the following categories of recipients, only where necessary and on a lawful basis:

FIFPRO – our global representative body, for international player representation and advocacy
Football Association of Ireland (FAI) – where relevant to league administration or player welfare matters
Legal advisers and solicitors – where you have requested legal support or where we are defending legal proceedings
Education providers and higher education institutions – for the administration of player education programmes
IT and systems providers – including secure cloud storage, membership management, and communications platforms acting as data processors on our behalf
Mental health and welfare services – referral partners involved in delivering wellbeing programmes
Regulatory bodies – the Data Protection Commission or other statutory bodies, where we are legally required to do so

Any third parties who process data on our behalf are bound by data processing agreements that require them to handle your data securely and in accordance with GDPR.

7. How long we keep your data

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Our general retention periods are:

Membership records – for the duration of your membership and for 7 years thereafter, in line with Irish statutory requirements
Financial records – 7 years from the end of the relevant financial year, as required under tax law
Legal case files – for the duration of the case and for 7 years after resolution
Education records – for the duration of the programme and for 5 years thereafter
Welfare records – for the period specified in your informed consent or, in the absence of consent, for the minimum period required for the service
Job applicant records – up to 12 months after the recruitment process concludes
Website analytics data – in accordance with our cookie policy (see Section 11)

When data is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymised.

8. Your rights

Under GDPR and the Data Protection Acts 1988–2018, you have the following rights in respect of your personal data:

Access You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (a Subject Access Request).

Rectification –

You can ask us to correct inaccurate data or complete incomplete data.

Erasure –

You can ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances (the "right to be forgotten").

Restriction – You can ask us to restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances.
Portability – You can ask us to provide your data in a structured, machine-readable format, or to transfer it to another organisation, where technically feasible.
Object – You can object to processing based on legitimate interests, or to direct marketing at any time.
Withdraw consent – Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting prior processing.
Complaint – You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@pfai.ie. We will respond within one month of receiving your request. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the Data Protection Commission:

Data Protection Commission

21 Fitzwilliam Square South, Dublin 2, D02 RD28

Phone: +353 (0)1 765 0100

Website: www.dataprotection.ie

9. International transfers

Where we transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) — for example, to FIFPRO or international systems providers — we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as:

Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission
Adequacy decisions made by the European Commission in respect of the recipient country

If you would like further information about international transfers or the safeguards in place, please contact us.

10. Automated decision-making

We do not use automated decision-making processes (including profiling) that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you.

Where we use any form of automated processing — for example, filtering survey results or segmenting communications by member category — this is used only to help us communicate more relevantly with members and does not result in any decision that significantly affects your rights or interests.

11. Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help us understand how people use our site and improve your experience.

Types of cookies we use

Strictly necessary cookies – essential for the website to function. These cannot be switched off.
Analytics cookies – help us understand how visitors interact with our site (for example, which pages are most visited). These are only set with your consent.
Preference cookies – remember your settings and choices (for example, language preferences).

When you first visit our website, you will be presented with a cookie banner where you can accept or decline non-essential cookies. You can change your preferences at any time through the cookie settings link in our website footer.

You can also manage cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

12. Changes to this notice

We review this privacy notice periodically and will update it when our practices change or when required by law. The date at the top of this page indicates when it was last updated.

Where changes are significant, we will notify members directly by email.

13. Contact us

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, how we handle your personal data, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please get in touch:

PFA Ireland – Data Protection

Email: info@pfai.ie

Address: Room 214, Players Union Offices, FAI Building, National Sports Campus, Abbotstown, Dublin 15, D15 X8PD