The international football association Fifa is the subject of fierce criticism, when 106 professional football players, including many Finns, demand in their open letter that the sports association should end cooperation with the oil and energy company Saudi Aramco.
That’s not the only reason Fifa is in the headlines now.
Last week, the international umbrella organization of players’ associations Fifpro, Spain’s La Liga and the European football leagues submitted an official lawsuit to the European Commission.
European football leagues refers to The European Leagues organization, which represents 39 European football leagues and 1,130 clubs. The main Spanish league La Liga is not part of the organization, but the other biggest leagues in Europe are.
The European Commission is an EU body that makes proposals for legislation and monitors compliance with agreements.
Whose interest is Fifa pursuing?
According to those who filed the lawsuit, the international football calendar run by Fifa is overloaded and dysfunctional.
Fifa is accused of having acted like a monopoly when expanding the match calendar, of abusing a dominant market position and of violating EU legislation.
According to the lawsuit, Fifa’s decisions only favor its commercial interests, thereby neglecting its responsibilities as a global umbrella organization and harming the activities of players and national leagues.
The European Commission is now investigating whether to initiate formal proceedings against Fifa’s actions. It could take a year.
President of the Spanish League Javier Tebas hailed the joining of European clubs against Fifa as “one of the most important days in football”. Fifpro called the filing of the complaint “unprecedented”.
– This is a decisive day for football in Europe and the world. Write it down because you will see it in the coming months, Tebas threatened.
The dispute has escalated especially with the fact that next summer Fifa will organize the historically large World Cup for club teams. The World Cup for national teams will be played in 2026 for the first time in 48 countries.
– Our common message is that “enough is enough, we can’t take it anymore”, stated the Premier League’s head of international relations Mathieu Moreuil.
– Legal action is the only option, and it is unfortunate. We want to protect domestic football and the sport’s ecosystem. We want an agreement between the social partners and Fifa. Not a hearing, but the real deal.
The purpose of the complaint is not to question Fifa’s position, but to bring Fifa to the negotiating table.
– Fifa should be at the forefront as a friend, but it acts more like an enemy. That’s something we want to change, CEO of the Belgian league Lorin Parys your sum.
The star category can’t handle it
For example, the star player of Manchester City Rodri claimed that the players are “very close to going on strike”.
Rodri, who celebrated the Premier League championship and EC gold, played 63 matches within a year. Now he is sidelined for the entire season due to a knee injury.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti thought about distributing vacations to the players in the middle of the season.
Manchester City Manuel Akanji29, threatened to quit in his 30s.
– When it’s too much, it’s too much, said the Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé.
For example, there will be no break at all for City’s stars between the 2024–25 and 2025–26 seasons, if national team games and club World Cups are taken into account.
The players and Fifpro, which represents them, have argued that in addition to the increased risk of injury, the limits of the players’ mental endurance have been exceeded.
A hypocrite?
Fifa has responded to the criticism by considering it “hypocritical” and pointed out that specifically the biggest leagues and clubs pursue their own commercial interests and do not think about the footballing world.
The biggest clubs play the most, but also earn the most and pay the most. The increase in the number of games falls on these clubs. Many clubs also make long trips to other continents during their training seasons as part of marketing.
– These leagues apparently prefer a calendar full of friendlies and summer tours involving extensive travel, Fifa replied.
– In contrast, Fifa must protect the general interests of world football, including the protection of players, everywhere and at all levels of the game.
Even now, La Liga, which is looking for new markets, is exploring the possibility of playing the League match between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Miami, USA. Traveling naturally increases strain.
At the end of the day, it’s all about the relationship between Fifa’s games and domestic leagues, especially financially.
On average, European teams play 40 games in a season, and seasons of more than 60 games are only a problem for five percent.
President of the European football association UEFA Alexander Ceferin acknowledged that the calendar is now full, but noted:
– Who’s complaining? The ones with the highest salaries and the clubs where the 25 best players in the world play. Those clubs with lower salaries and barely 11 players will not complain. They love to play.
Interruption is bad
The relationship between Fifpro and Fifa is described as having “fallen completely”.
One example is the fund that was established in 2020. The fund has been used to compensate players whose clubs go bankrupt or fail to pay salaries.
Fifa has not paid the last installment of 5 million dollars to the fund, even though Fifpro has repeatedly asked for it.
Javier Tebas tweeted last week that the World Cup tournament for club teams “should be thrown in the trash”.
Aptly at the same time the president of Fifa Gianni Infantino was in the United States and raved about how Inter Miami, who won the MLS regular season, deserves the honor of hosting the tournament.
Sources: The Guardian, BBC, The AthleticReuters