Leagues and footballers against FIFA for non-stop calendar

Discontent had been brewing for some time against Fifa's planned calendar. Now the association of European leagues and Fifpro Europe, the players' union, have officially filed a complaint with the EU Commission against the world football governing body for abuse of a dominant position, in particular for the imposition of the first club World Cup in 2025 and the expanded 48-team national team World Cup in 2026.

'The over-saturated international football calendar jeopardises the safety and health of players, and threatens the economic and social sustainability of important national competitions enjoyed for generations by fans in Europe and around the world': this is the heart of the accusation made by the Old Continent's football leagues and Fifpro.

The complaint lodged with the Commission by the association representing the leagues of 33 countries and the players' union points the finger at FIFA, which manages the calendar of windows for national teams' commitments, and does not mention UEFA, which this season has launched new formats for the Champions, Europa and Conference League. The Nations League also introduced a new playoff system. The leagues' complaint to FIFA concerns the fact that they were not fully consulted during the discussions to agree on the latest renewal of the calendar until 2030 for national team matches. Fifa claimed that its offers for talks this year were not accepted.

'Serie A, like almost all other European leagues, has not increased the number of matches in the last 20 years. On the contrary, Fifa and Uefa, cycle after cycle, have steadily increased the size of their competitions for both clubs and national teams and now we have reached a saturation point in the calendar,' explained Lega Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo. "The problem of calendar overload is not caused by the Leagues' competitions, but by Fifa, with its new format and duration of tournaments, and by Uefa with the Nations League and the new Uefa club competitions, with more dates and matches. But the difference is that Uefa had a significant consultation with all stakeholders, including the leagues, and decided on a reform of the format of club competitions after a long discussion. Fifa imposed its new format and competitions without any discussion, consultation and without agreeing to have any form of relationship with the organisers of the other competitions'.

The leaders of FIFPRO Europe, the European Leagues and LaLiga presented the details of the complaint at a press conference in Brussels today, 14 October, underlining how FIFA has conflicting roles as a governing body and competition organiser, giving rise to a conflict of interest. In other words, without due process FIFA would have used its regulatory power to promote its commercial interests at the expense of its stakeholders (players and leagues), abusing its dominant position and violating EU law.