There is controversy over calendars, European leagues and Fifpro attack FIFA

It's a back and forth between the main European championships and FIFA. The European Leagues and the international footballers' union, FIFPRO Europe, have decided to attack FIFA. We have heard in recent weeks of a calendar increasingly saturated with commitments, with the addition of the Club World Cup next season with its new format which will add additional matches for the big Italian and European teams.

The European division of FifPro, the international federation of professional footballers and the association of European leagues from 33 countries have filed a formal complaint with the European Commission, alleging that FIFA fails to consult properly on commercially motivated decisions . FIFA has launched a Club World Cup with 32 teams, including 12 Europeans, which will take place in the United States next June and July, while the 2026 World Cup, also organized in North America, will have 48 teams at instead of 32 and it will last an additional week.

In a joint action, the two organizations (leagues and unions) announced their initiative through an official press release: “For many years, football leagues and associations have repeatedly urged FIFA to develop a clear, transparent and fair process. regarding the schedule of international matches. The last formal request was sent to the FIFA Congress and Council in May. Unfortunately, FIFA has always refused to include national leagues and players' associations in its decision-making process. The international calendar now exceeds saturation and becomes unsustainable for the national leagues and constitutes a risk for the health of footballers. FIFA's decisions in recent years have systematically favored its competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body and undermined the economic interests of national leagues and the well-being of footballers. The leagues and players cannot accept that the rules are decided unilaterally, legal action is the only responsible measure to protect football, its ecosystem and its workforce from the unilateral decisions of FIFA which has an abuse of dominant position: FIFA plays a dual role, both as a global football regulator and competition organizer. This determines a conflict of interest which, in accordance with recent case law of the European Union courts, requires FIFA to exercise its regulatory functions in a transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate manner.

FIFA's response was immediate, defending itself as follows: “The current calendar was unanimously approved by the FIFA Council, made up of representatives from all continents, including Europe, following a complete and inclusive consultation, in which FIFPRO and the League authorities participated. . The FIFA Calendar is the only tool that ensures that international football can continue to survive, coexist and thrive alongside domestic and continental club football. Some leagues in Europe – themselves organizers and regulators of competitions – act with commercial interest, hypocrisy and without consideration for everyone. elsewhere in the world. Apparently, these leagues prefer a calendar filled with friendlies and summer tours, which often involve extensive travel around the world. On the contrary, FIFA must protect the general interests of world football, including the protection of players, everywhere and at all levels of the game. In the aforementioned complaint filed by the European Leagues and Fifpro (the European footballers' union), it was notably read that FIFA had an “abuse of dominant position” and that “it plays a dual role, both as a global football regulator and competition organizer. This determines a conflict of interests which, in accordance with recent case law of the European Union courts, requires FIFA to exercise its regulatory functions in a transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate manner.

“This is an excellent opportunity to express for the first time our disagreement with a situation that even footballers who play in Italy perceive as a great distortion. We have the feeling that football is starting to devour itself.” This was stated by the President of the Football Association (AIC), Umberto Calcagno, during a press conference in Brussels after the presentation of the complaint against FIFA to the European Commission by the European leagues, Fifpro Europe and LaLiga.

“Finally, the health of footballers is no longer a union issue: preserving the health of the best part of our entertainment means defending our system,” Calcagno stressed. “Today – he added – the best players, who play at a speed 50% higher than ten years ago”, should play “more and more matches, 60 or 70, the Club World Cup could bring some of our boys have to play 80 matches traveling 120,000 kilometers for those with national teams abroad” with only “15 to 20 real training sessions per year”. The risk, he warns, is that “to maximize revenues in the short term”, FIFA's decisions on the international calendar lead to football becoming in the long term a much less beautiful product than what we have seen so far. here”.