FIFA has been warned of a threat of mass outrage and legal action from players and football leagues around the world over its new men’s Club World Cup, amid welfare concerns.
A letter was sent by global players’ union FIFPRO and the World Leagues Forum to the FIFA president Gianni Infantino demanding that the 32-team competition will not be played as planned in June and July next year.
Chelsea and Manchester City qualified for the event, hosted by the United States as part of Infantino’s expansion of FIFA competitions. The union fears that this has congested the calendar and put players’ health at risk.
Sky News in December revealed concerns from players in England that they are being asked to play too many games with the threat of legal action against soccer authorities.
Kevin De Bruyne, from Manchester City, and Enzo Fernandez, from Chelsea. Both teams have already qualified for the Club World Cup. Photo: Reuters
This has now been taken to a global level ahead of FIFA’s main meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, next week.
FIFPRO Acting Secretary General Stephane Burchkalter and WLA counterpart Jerome Perlemuter wrote to Mr Infantino last week to warn that legal advice had been taken ahead of potential action against FIFA to force them to resolve the concerns.
In a letter obtained by Sky News, they wrote: “We will be required to advise our members of the options available to them, both individually and collectively, to proactively safeguard their interests.”
FIFAthe governing body of world football, has also expanded the World Cup to national teams – going from 32 to 48 teams in the 2026 edition in North America.
The letter from FIFPRO and WLF adds: “FIFA has continually and consistently made unilateral decisions that benefit its own competitions and commercial interests, while negatively affecting domestic leagues and players.
“For a significant period, FIFA has ignored repeated attempts by leagues and unions to become involved in this issue.
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They added: “As a result of FIFA’s recent strategy to expand its own competitions, the calendar has now surpassed saturation, to the point where national leagues are unable to properly organize their competitions, resulting in economic damage, while players are pushed to beyond their limits, with significant risks of injury and impacts on their well-being and fundamental rights.
“Leagues and players cannot simply be expected to ‘adapt’ to FIFA’s decisions, which are driven by FIFA’s business strategy.
“We have reached the point where this situation must be immediately addressed, both from a procedural and substantive point of view.”
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The Club World Cup will be held every four years, replacing the little-regarded annual seven-team event, the final version of which City won in December.
After a three-team group stage, there will be four more matches until the final.
The competition is occupying the quadrennial space used until 2017 for the now-defunct Confederations Cup, contested by eight countries, and which served as a test event for the World Cup.
Sky News has contacted FIFA for comment.
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