The Australian Football Players Association and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association were honoured at the World Players Summit 2026 for their outstanding contributions to advancing athletes’ rights.
The World Players Association presented its inaugural World Players Awards during the World Players Summit 2026 in Washington, D.C., recognising two player associations whose work has helped advance athletes’ rights and strengthen the global players’ movement.
Created to celebrate achievements that leave a lasting mark on athlete representation, the awards recognise both long-term leadership and transformational progress. While victories for athletes often take years to achieve, they can quickly fade from public attention. The World Players Awards were established to acknowledge the organising, bargaining and collective action behind those milestones, and to highlight their significance for athletes around the world.
Two awards were presented during the ceremony: the Legacy Award and the Impact Award.
AFLPA receives inaugural Legacy Award
The inaugural Legacy Award was presented to the Australian Football Players Association (AFLPA), recognising more than five decades of leadership in advancing players’ rights and helping shape the broader players’ movement.
Since its formation in 1973, the AFLPA has played a pioneering role in areas including collective bargaining, player welfare, mental health, career development and athlete representation. Across eight collective bargaining agreements and generations of player leaders, the association has continually expanded the scope of what athletes can achieve through collective action.
The award also recognised AFLPA’s longstanding commitment to supporting the wider players’ movement through knowledge sharing, collaboration and international solidarity.
A significant example of that contribution was the role played by AFLPA Special Counsel Brendan Schwab in the development and negotiation of the International Labour Organization’s Guidelines on Decent Work in Sport, adopted earlier this year. His involvement reflected AFLPA’s enduring commitment to advancing the rights of athletes beyond Australian football.
Accepting the award on behalf of the AFLPA, GM of Member Engagement Programs and Servicesr Ben Smith reflected on the importance of solidarity between player associations and the responsibility of established organisations to support the continued growth of athlete representation globally.
WNBPA recognised with inaugural Impact Award
The inaugural Impact Award was presented to the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) in recognition of its landmark collective bargaining agreement reached in 2026.
After opting out of its previous agreement in 2024, the WNBPA spent more than a year pursuing a new deal that would fundamentally reshape the economic future of women’s basketball. The result was a seven-year agreement featuring the first comprehensive revenue-sharing model in women’s sport.
The agreement significantly increased player compensation and benefits while establishing a new principle for sport: that athletes should share in the value they help create.
The award recognised the agreement as one of the most significant labour achievements in recent sports history and a breakthrough with implications extending well beyond basketball.
Receiving the award was Erin Drake, Senior Advisor and Legal Counsel to the WNBPA and a member of the union’s negotiating team. Following the presentation, Drake joined a fireside conversation exploring the challenges, strategies and lessons behind the negotiations.
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