It is no secret that FIFA is, first of all, a business-oriented company, not a company very concerned about the welfare of football and those working in and around it. That is why, for years now, the world’s umbrella football institution has been receiving questions and ‘threats’ regarding their greed and neglect of those who bring in the most money. And as no surprise comes the news that players’ union FIFPRO and the European Leagues have accused FIFA of ignoring their concerns over the heavy schedule expected of top clubs and players in the match calendarTop leagues and players in Europe have joined forces to launch legal action against FIFA over the “unsustainable” international match calendar.Top bosses and players, including Kevin De Bruyne, have frequently bemoaned the amount of football being played, with teams in England playing in the Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Seven clubs will also play in European competition this season, with UEFA running the Champions League,. Europa League and Europa Conference League.Meanwhile, FIFA are set to launch a revamped Club World Cup, which will see 32 teams from across the globe compete next summer. On top of that, international players will feature in World Cups, continental championships and Nations Leagues, as well as a number of friendlies.##NAJAVA_MECA_8228732##This amount of matches across a season has drawn criticism, with the amount of time players have given for rest and recuperation being constantly squeezed down. Now, players union FIFPRO and representatives from European Leagues have decided to launch legal action, alleging FIFA have ignored their concerns.”Following decisions by their respective executive bodies, European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe will jointly file a formal complaint to the European Commission on competition law grounds against FIFA regarding the international match calendar,” a joint statement read.”For several years, the leagues and player unions have repeatedly urged FIFA to develop a clear, transparent, and fair process regarding the international match calendar. The latest formal request was sent ahead of the FIFA Congress and Council in May 2024. Regretfully, FIFA has consistently refused to include national leagues and player unions in its decision-making process.”The international match calendar is now beyond saturation and has become unsustainable for national leagues and a risk for the health of players. FIFA’s decisions over the last years have repeatedly favoured its own competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body, and harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the welfare of players.The top European leagues, including the Premier League, and the global players’ union Fifpro will launch legal action against world governing body Fifa over its “abuse of dominance” in the game.#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/WDvclPtNjI— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 23, 2024 “Legal action is now the only responsible step for European leagues and player unions to protect football, its ecosystem and its workforce from FIFA’s unilateral decisions. The complaint will explain that FIFA’s conduct infringes EU competition law and notably constitutes an abuse of dominance: FIFA holds a dual role as both the global regulator of football and a competition organiser.”This creates a conflict of interest, which, consistent with recent case law of the EU courts, requires FIFA to exercise its regulatory functions in a way that is transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate. FIFA’s conduct in respect of the international match calendar falls well short of these requirements.”This complaint, that will be formally filed by European Leagues, LaLiga, and FIFPRO Europe will run in parallel to separate actions initiated by individual leagues and player unions at national level. The English, French and Italian player unions brought an action with the Brussels commercial court in June.”##EDITORS_CHOICE##The two groups have informed the European Commission of the action they are taking and are hoping to work closely with them during the investigation process. Maheta Molango, the CEO of the PFA and FIFPRO Board member, has insisted that legal action is the only way to cut down the ballooning schedule.“Legal action is the unfortunate but inevitable consequence of major stakeholders within the game – the leagues and the players – being ignored. What unites us is the impact that decisions about the fixture calendar, made by international governing bodies, are having,” he said.”In England, we’ve already seen major changes to the structure of the FA Cup which have essentially been forced by the expansion of international competitions. Those changes affect all our members and their careers. It’s the knock-on impact we’ve been warning about for a long time.“Even since initial legal action began last month, led by the PFA with the French and Italian player unions, next summer’s African Cup of Nations has had to be moved. That is an unavoidable result of FIFA scheduling its expanded Club World Cup for next June and July.Men’s Olympic football tournament – no Brazil and no big names“AFCON will instead be played in the middle of the European season. That will directly and unexpectedly impact national leagues, clubs and – most importantly from our perspective – players. These are big, potentially career-altering decisions being made without proper consultation or negotiation.“It’s just not tenable to continue to argue that this approach to the fixture calendar is working. As always, it’s the players who are expected to bend. As we have seen, eventually they will break. It has to stop.”De Bruyne has previously admitted the heavy schedule for club and country has left him feeling like “s***”.“This break will do us a lot of good.I’m going away, it doesn’t matter where! “I’ve said it before – you feel great for 10 games, then you feel OK for 10 games, and then the rest, you feel like s**t.” the Belgian said in 2018.“But we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. “We’ve only got 15 or 16 players available at the moment, so we need to get through it.”##NAJAVA_MECA_8229997##Oversaturation with football is a valid threat, given that, with the advent of modern technology and televised services, anyone can easily watch a game of football. But there are days when you simply want to ‘miss’ your favourite players and clubs. There must be a balance, or else the sport the world loves the most could get hurt with numerous strikes and acts of rebellion.
