Leading groups representing footballers and clubs in Europe filed a complaint with the European Commission on Monday, claiming FIFA is misusing its power by altering fixtures and expanding tournaments, which they argue is harming European clubs and professional players.
The global football governing body “has a conflicting role as both regulator and competition organiser, resulting in a clash of interests,” stated the joint press release from FIFPro Europe, the European leagues’ association, and Spain’s La Liga, which acted independently.
The formal grievance was lodged with the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition, which also addressed FIFA’s unlawful actions during a press briefing in Brussels. They contend that FIFA’s imposition of calendar decisions “is an abuse of a dominant position and violates EU law”.
FIFPro is the worldwide players’ union, while European Leagues represents over a thousand clubs from 33 European countries (outside the EU member states). Its member leagues include the English Premier League and those from Italy, Germany and France, but not La Liga (Spain), which is taking action alongside them but separately from the association that represents them.
In recent hours, there has been talk that a formal complaint, rather than a request, will be submitted to the European Commission by the organisations filing the complaint (FIFPro, the European leagues and La Liga).
A recent FIFPro study has criticised football’s governing bodies for jeopardising players’ wellbeing amidst an ever-growing fixture list, whilst some prominent footballers have suggested the possibility of industrial action to protest the mounting pressures placed upon them.
Concurrently, spokespersons for national leagues have voiced worries that their competitions will bear the brunt, as top players will inevitably sit out more domestic matches for rest, harming their brands and the quality of the sporting spectacle.

FIFA has faced backlash for its unilateral approach to fixture management, whilst several European league executives, including Richard Masters (Premier League), Luigi De Siervo (Serie A) and Neil Doncaster (SPFL), have expressed similar misgivings.
Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League (England), stated: “Player feedback indicates there’s too much football being played and constant expansion. We’re not asking for money. We simply want to be involved in decisions that affect us.”
Luigi De Siervo, chief executive of Serie A (Italy), remarked: “The congested calendar isn’t caused by league competitions, but by FIFA with new tournament formats and durations, and by UEFA with the Nations League and new club competitions.”
FIFA has already responded to the criticism, accusing the leagues of acting with “selfish commercial interests and hypocrisy”.
“These leagues seem to prefer a schedule full of friendlies and summer tours, which often involve extensive travel around the world,” world football’s governing body said in July, after it first emerged that legal action was being planned.
Rather than finding a solution, the conflict seems to be escalating with each passing day and the lack of dialogue between the parties and their diametrically opposed positions. If the formal complaint does not lead to a solution, the next step is the one FIFA always tries to avoid: legal action.
Without dialogue, this will not be possible. The same dialogue that FIFA preaches in an attempt to resolve the damaging consequences of the Diarra case on the entire player transfer ecosystem is the dialogue that is lacking in finding points of agreement between clubs, players and the world governing body.