FIFPro and European leagues file complaint against FIFA over calendar: 'Enough is enough'

Global players’ union FIFPro joined forces with Europe’s national leagues to lodge a formal complaint against FIFA with the European Commission in Brussels on Monday, as the fight for control of the soccer calendar intensified.

The boards of FIFPro and the European Leagues, the organization which represents clubs from more than 30 countries across Europe, agreed to take legal action in July. This decision cannot therefore come as a complete surprise to the governing body of world football. But it is an unprecedented move and further evidence of the vulnerability of FIFA’s position as the dominant voice of football.

At a press conference in the Belgian capital, players’ union leaders from France, Italy and Norway sat alongside senior representatives from the Belgian, English and Spanish leagues to explain that they were not trying not to dethrone FIFA or claim financial damages: they all want, they said, meaningful consultations on the calendar and all other issues that concern them.

“FIFA refuses to listen and engage with the players, the main resource of our industry, who are present on the field, creating a driving force of European and global entertainment culture and pushing their bodies to the extreme,” he said. said David, President of FIFPro Europe. Terrier.

“But we listened to our players, received the same messages for a long time, that they play too much and don’t have enough time to recover. Heading into the worst season on record in terms of workload , many have decided to speak out in public with the same message: enough is enough.”

La Liga president Javier Tebas, a longtime critic of FIFA, agreed, saying unions and leagues are “clearly aligned on protecting domestic competitions and their players.”

“By introducing new formats and expanding competitions unilaterally, FIFA is acting solely in its own interest, without taking into account the resulting damage to the entire football ecosystem.”

Issues have been raised about the new Club World Cup (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images)

The confirmation of the challenge comes after FIFA’s attempt to cap the amount of commissions players’ agents can charge ran into legal difficulties last year and the European Court of Justice imposed limits on the ability of international federations to block new entrants to the market.

FIFA suffered another legal setback last week when some of its rules on the international transfer system were declared non-compliant with European Union competition law after a nine-year legal battle brought by former player Lassana Diarra.

FIFA believes it can resolve all the issues raised in these cases and on Monday, at the same time as FIFPro and the European leagues filed their complaint, it announced that it was opening a “global dialogue” on its transfer rules following the Diarra ruling. But he has never faced such a broad coalition of critics as during the conflict over the international match calendar.

Players’ unions and leagues were already angry with FIFA when it unilaterally decided to expand the Men’s World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, starting with the 2026 tournament, but the spark that truly ignited the Powder Magazine was FIFA’s creation of a 32-team system. Club World Cup.

With the first edition of the new tournament taking place in the United States between June 15 and July 13, many of soccer’s biggest stars are looking ahead to an extended new season, with more matches than ever and almost no pre-season time off. 2025-26. , which ends with the expanded World Cup.

That’s why players like Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, Manchester City duo Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri and Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe have all recently complained about fatigue and increased risk of injury. The fact that all four were injured or missed games to manage their workload only highlighted the importance of their warnings.

FIFA has yet to respond to the official complaint filed with the European Commission, but has repeatedly downplayed the impact of its new and expanded tournaments on player workloads, stressing that it is not responsible only a small fraction of the total number of matches played each season. It also said it was the only football body to redistribute the money it earns to contribute to the global growth of football.