OTB Sport has learned that four League of Ireland footballers have applied to the FIFA Fund for Football Players (FIFA FFP).

The fund was set up by world football's governing body with the aim to "provide financial support to players who have not been paid and have no chance of duly receiving the wages agreed with their clubs".

A total of 441 players worldwide have made applications with 89% of those coming from European based footballers.

Players can apply for the latest round of funding until the end of June via world players' union, FIFPRO.

FIFA has set aside over €14m for the fund up to 2022, with this allocation to be divided as follows: €2.65m in 2020, €3.2m in 2021 and €3.2m in 2022, plus a further €4m set aside for the retroactive protection of players’ salaries for the period between July 2015 and June 2020.

The fund was set up in February, before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and was established primarily in response to incidents of clubs going out of business to avoid paying salaries before quickly reforming.

It will not cover the full amount of the salary owed to a player but will help to provide a safety net to those affected.

Players who lose wages during the pandemic can only apply to the fund if their club goes out of business.