European football unions and leagues head to Brussels to present latest legal action against FIFA

During a busy soccer season, in which players have talked about going on strike, their union joined with national leagues to address the European Union on Monday with a long-promised challenge to FIFA on how it’s adding new, bigger men’s competitions.

The European division of players’ union FIFPRO and the group of 33 European leagues have filed a formal complaint on competition grounds, alleging that FIFA fails to properly consult on decisions that are in its commercial interests.

It is the latest dispute in the legal field, where FIFA has come under pressure over the past year over decisions related to the European Super League, the regulation of player agents and – this month this only – to the global transfer market.

On the ground, FIFA will launch a 32-team Club World Cup, including 12 European teams, in the United States next June and July, and the 2026 World Cup, also in North America, will have 48 teams instead of 32 and will last an additional week.

FIFPRO said “the oversaturated international football calendar endangers the safety and well-being of players”, and released a video montage of Kylian Mbappé and star players talking about their workload during a briefing increasing.

“There are so many competitions and we are happy to play but when it is too much, it is too much,” Mbappé said at an awards ceremony in May.

The French superstar is set to feature in the Club World Cup with Real Madrid.

The complaint filed Monday with the European Commission targets FIFA, which manages the calendar of protected dates for national team matches. Clubs must release selected players.

“The plaintiffs are not seeking financial compensation from FIFA, but rather a fair and inclusive decision-making process,” said their lawyer, Mark English, adding that the EC had been asked to make a “cease and desist” decision. ” if FIFA breached European competition law.

He does not cite UEFA, the European football body, which this season has involved hundreds of players in more competitive matches by expanding three of its international men’s competitions: the Champions League and the Europa League for clubs, and the Nations League, which has a new playoff system. .

“We have some representation (within UEFA) and we use it,” said Mathieu Moreuil, lawyer for the English Premier League, when asked why the European body had not filed a complaint . “With FIFA we literally have nothing.”

League, club and union officials once had an official seat at the FIFA table on its football stakeholders committee. It was closed in 2021 by President Gianni Infantino.

This season, Europe’s domestic leagues have seen their match schedule options reduced to an additional four weeks between September and January, now occupied by UEFA club competitions.

However, Belgian league CEO Lorin Parys likened FIFA’s new club event to a threat, similar to elite clubs’ Super League plan rejected in 2021 by fan backlash .

“Here’s FIFA coming through our back door, whistling and shouting, ‘Surprise,’ saying, ‘We’ve got a present for you guys,’ and it’s actually the Super League under a different name.” Parys said.

The leagues’ grievance with FIFA also lies in the fact that they were not fully consulted during the negotiations to agree the final renewal of the calendar until 2030 for national team matches, which mainly requires them to close lucrative slots for weekend matches.

FIFA said its offers for negotiations this year were unsuccessful.

The complaint filed in Brussels, with the executive branch of the 27-nation European bloc, was also joined by Spain’s La Liga and claims that FIFA is abusing its dominant position in football.

According to the complaint, FIFA’s role as a governing body and regulator is at odds with its commercial objectives as an organizer of competitions.

FIFA previously suggested there was hypocrisy in European football, which sees clubs play lucrative off-season matches around the world, when it had a global duty to protect and develop the game .