European Leagues, Players’ Union Sue FIFA over International Calendar

European Leagues and the FIFPRO Europe Players Union are taking legal action against FIFA over the “saturated” and “unsustainable” international match calendar.

FIFA is accused of neglecting its responsibilities as a governing body, favouring its commercial interests to the detriment of national leagues and player welfare.

In 2025, FIFA will hold its first edition of the revamped Club World Cup, expanded to a 32-team competition that will last four weeks across next June and July. A new annual competition called the FIFA Intercontinental Cup will replace the previous version of the Club World Cup each December.

The legal complaint claims FIFA is guilty of breaching EU competition law and of an abuse of dominance as both a regulator and organiser.

“Following decisions by their respective executive bodies, European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe will jointly file a formal complaint to the European Commission on competition law grounds against FIFA regarding the international match calendar,” a lengthy statement explained.

“For several years, the leagues and player unions have repeatedly urged FIFA to develop a clear, transparent, and fair process regarding the international match calendar. The latest formal request was sent ahead of the FIFA Congress and Council in May 2024. Regretfully, FIFA has consistently refused to include national leagues and player unions in its decision-making process.

“The international match calendar is now beyond saturation and has become unsustainable for national leagues and a risk for the health of players. FIFA’s decisions over the last years have repeatedly favoured its own competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body, and harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the welfare of players.

“National leagues and player unions, which represent the interests of all clubs and all players at the national level, and regulate labour relations through collectively agreed solutions, cannot accept that global regulations are decided unilaterally.

“Legal action is now the only responsible step for European leagues and player unions to protect football, its ecosystem and its workforce from FIFA’s unilateral decisions.

“The complaint will explain that FIFA’s conduct infringes EU competition law and notably constitutes an abuse of dominance: FIFA holds a dual role as both the global regulator of football and a competition organiser. This creates a conflict of interest, which, consistent with recent case law of the EU courts, requires FIFA to exercise its regulatory functions in a way that is transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate. FIFA’s conduct in respect of the international match calendar falls well short of these requirements.

“This complaint, that will be formally filed by European Leagues, LaLiga, and FIFPRO Europe will run in parallel to separate actions initiated by individual leagues and player unions at national level. The English, French and Italian player unions brought an action with the Brussels commercial court in June.

“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.”