FIFA faces legal challenge from Premier League and others as row over match schedule intensifies | Soccer | Sport

Football match congestion problems are set to intensify on Monday as leagues and unions file a complaint against FIFA with the European Commission.

The group, which includes the Premier League through its membership of the European Leagues Collective, claims football’s global governing body has abused its dominant position under European competition law.

They claim FIFA failed to carry out meaningful consultations on the new calendar before it was announced in March last year and as a result the calendar went “beyond saturation”.

“harmed the economic interests of the national leagues and the well-being of the players”.

League sources cite Manchester City’s recent request to postpone domestic matches until the start of next season to allow more recovery time after the Club World Cup as a prime example of the impact of this new competition on the timing and quality of theirs.

The Premier League can point to the fact that it has been a 20-team competition for almost 30 years and that congestion in club matches is a result of the international expansion of UEFA and now FIFA.

FIFA insists that the schedule announced at its 2023 Congress in Rwanda is the result of extensive consultations and that it has every right to set the parameters of its own competitions like the Club World Cup, provided that They fall within the agreed timetable.

The leagues have also been accused of “hypocrisy” by FIFA, which claims these leagues “prefer a calendar full of friendlies and summer tours”, such as the Premier League’s Summer Series.

FIFPRO Europe, the continental branch of global players’ union FIFPRO, is also part of the action.

There have already been a number of instances of players speaking out about scheduling demands, with Manchester City midfielder Rodri saying players were “on the brink” of going on strike over the issue, few of time before suffering a season-ending injury.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, who has overseen the expansion of Europe’s club competitions, said on Thursday the calendar had “reached its limits”, but added to the BBC: “Who’s complaining? Those who win the highest salaries and teams that have a squad of 25 high-level players.”

“Those with lower salaries and just 11 players don’t complain. They love to play.”

The filing of this complaint marks the third consecutive week that a competition law case has made headlines in football.

On October 4, the European Court of Justice ruled that certain FIFA transfer rules violated competition and freedom of movement law in the case of former Arsenal, Chelsea and Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra.

Last Monday, the Premier League’s associated party transaction (APT) rules were found to be unlawful in certain respects by an arbitration panel after a challenge brought by Manchester City.