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Zurich - Sepp Blatter's successor as FIFA president is not the most urgent issue facing football and the sport should no longer exist in a "bubble", the world players' union FIFPro said on Wednesday.
"The election of a new FIFA President is not the most pressing issue up for debate in the coming months," said FIFPro, which represents 60,000 professional footballers worldwide.
"Urgent attention is needed to address a deeply-flawed governance structure which has permeated itself on international, regional and national levels.
"Football is now a breeding ground for corruptible and abusive behaviour."
Blatter announced he would resign on Tuesday, after FIFA was rocked by the arrest of seven senior soccer officials in Zurich last week, although he will remain in office until a successor is elected.
The election is expected to take place between December and March.
FIFPro added that the sport should no longer be exempt from ordinary law.
"FIFPro asks our political leaders to reconsider the notion that sport has the 'right' to be protected, in a bubble called the 'Autonomy of Sport'" said the statement.
"Sport has long advocated for, and received, special treatment to operate outside the ordinary laws that govern all organisations, businesses and citizens. The sad results are self-evident.
"Football's governance structure has failed to protect the basic rights of players and continues to expose them to other forms of abuse such as third-party ownership."
FIFPro complained that players were prevented from looking for new work, even when their clubs did not pay them on time.
"Whether it is not being paid due wages and the inability to seek new employment when a club has breached its contractual responsibilities. These are fundamentals that are still not yet resolved," said the statement.
"FIFPro demands full accountability to the players and all other stakeholders, including the fans, who have been made to suffer by the crisis of confidence enveloping FIFA as football's global governing body."
"Such accountability is essential if the reform process is to be properly informed and ultimately successful."
