The Premier League is joining new legal action against FIFA for expanding the international football calendar and putting players’ health at risk.
The European Leagues organization, which includes the English professional leagues, announced that it would lodge a complaint with the European Commission with the players’ union FIFPRO Europe on competition law grounds.
They are concerned about the introduction of a new men’s Club World Cup with 32 teams next year following the regular European season and international matches, and the apparent limited formal consultation by world football’s governing body.
Sky News first revealed in December about the English players’ unions threaten legal action due to workload concerns with the addition of more international matches.
The Professional Footballers’ Association is a member of FIFPRO Europe which joined the European Leagues “to protect football, its ecosystem and its workforce from FIFA’s unilateral decisions”, complaining to the European Commission.
They state: “The complaint will explain that FIFA’s conduct violates EU competition law and constitutes, inter alia, an abuse of a dominant position: FIFA plays a dual role as global football regulator and competition organizer.
“This creates a conflict of interest which, consistent with recent EU court jurisprudence, requires FIFA to exercise its regulatory functions in a transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate manner.
“FIFA’s conduct in relation to the international match calendar falls far short of these requirements.
“This complaint, which will be formally lodged by the European Leagues, LaLiga and FIFPRO Europe, will run in parallel with separate actions initiated by individual leagues and players’ unions at national level.
“The English, French and Italian players’ unions took action at the Brussels commercial court in June.
“The European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe have already informed the European Commission of their decision and look forward to working closely with the Commission, relevant public institutions and football stakeholders throughout the investigation process.”
The congested fixture list leaves players with little space for rest and recovery, and FIFA has yet to meet union demands for a mandatory 28-day off-season break.
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The leagues and players’ unions claim that FIFA has “consistently refused to include national leagues and players’ unions in its decision-making process. The international fixture calendar has already surpassed saturation and has become unsustainable for national leagues and a risk to the health of the players.” .
FIFA had already offered peace talks with leagues and unions to try to resolve the dispute.
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The quadrennial Club World Cup is taking the men’s calendar used in the year before the 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cups as a test event in the host nations – the now-defunct eight-nation Confederations Cup.
Chelsea and Manchester City have qualified as recent European champions for an event that gives FIFA a greater presence in the club football that is the lifeblood of football, having previously held a somewhat considered seven-team Club World Cup annually.
FIFA also expanded the World Cup to include men’s teams – going from 32 to 48 teams in the 2026 edition in North America.
FIFA insisted in response that the intentional calendar, which determines when clubs must release players for national team matches, was unanimously approved by its governing council, made up of European officials.
World football’s governing body says FIFPRO and what it calls “league bodies” have also been consulted.
FIFA said in a statement to Sky News: “Some leagues in Europe – themselves organizers and regulators of competitions – are acting with commercial interest, hypocrisy and without regard for everyone else in the world.
“These leagues apparently prefer a calendar packed with friendlies and summer tours, often involving extensive world travel. In contrast, FIFA must protect the general interests of world football, including the protection of players, everywhere and in all the game levels.”
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