Premier League joins new legal action against FIFA over packed international schedule

The Premier League is joining fresh legal action against FIFA for expanding the international football calendar and risking the health of players.

The European Leagues organisation, which England’s professional leagues are part of, announced it would file a complaint to the European Commission with players’ union FIFPRO Europe on competition law grounds

They are concerned about the introduction of a new 32-team men’s Club World Cup next year after the regular European season and international matches, and the apparent limited formal consultation by world football’s governing body.

Sky News first revealed in December about the English players’ unions threatening legal action over workload concerns with more international matches being added.

The Professional Footballers’ Association is a FIFPRO Europe member which has joined the European Leagues “to protect football, its ecosystem and its workforce from FIFA’s unilateral decisions” by complaining to the European Commission.

They say: “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.

“European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe have already informed the European Commission of their decision and look forward to working closely with the Commission, relevant public institutions and football stakeholders throughout the investigation process.”

The congested fixture list leaves players with little space for rest and recovery, with FIFA yet to grant union demands for a mandatory 28-day off-season break.

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The leagues and players’ unions claim 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 has previously offered peace talks with the leagues and unions to attempt to resolve the dispute.

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The quadrennial Club World Cup is taking the men’s calendar slot used the year before the 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cups as a test event in the host nations – the now-defunct, eight-country Confederations Cup.

Chelsea and Manchester City have qualified as recent European champions for an event giving FIFA a bigger footprint on the club game that is the lifeblood of football, having previously run a little-regarded seven-team Club World Cup annually.

FIFA has also expanded the World Cup for men’s national teams – growing from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 edition in North America.

FIFA insisted in response that the intentional calendar, which mandates when clubs must release players for national team matches, was unanimously approved by its ruling council, featuring officials from Europe.

The governing body for world football claims FIFPRO and what it calls “league bodies” were also consulted.

FIFA said in a statement to Sky News: “Some leagues in Europe – themselves competition organisers and regulators – are acting with commercial self-interest, hypocrisy, and without consideration to everyone else in the world.

“Those leagues apparently prefer a calendar filled with friendlies and summer tours, often involving extensive global travel. By contrast, FIFA must protect the overall interests of world football, including the protection of players, everywhere and at all levels of the game.”