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The Mag
·15 October 2024
FIFA have gone too far.
At last the players and clubs/leagues saying enough is enough.
The empire building from FIFA has seen them go a step too far and hopefully this will be a turning point in stopping the ever more congested football calendar.
FIFA aren’t alone of course in all of this, far from it. UEFA, the clubs, the various leagues, The FAs, all of them trying to have as big a share of the pie as possible, to generate as much power and cash for themselves as possible.
Is is the ridiculous FIFA Club World Cup 2025 that has been the straw to break the camel’s/players’ backs.
A tournament that nobody has ever been interested in, save for limited interest from those clubs and fans actually competing in this pointless tournament.
Exactly eight months today, the much expanded FIFA Club World Cup 2025 is supposed to kick off. There are scheduled to be 32 clubs taking part, including 12 European representatives, to be held in the United States from 15 June-13 July 2025.
This has been widely expected and now the top European leagues and players’ union Fifpro, have filed a legal complaint against FIFA with the European Commission, over what they claim is an “abuse of dominance” by world football’s governing body.
FIFA somehow think that this waste of time competition that no neutral (who hasn’t got their team taking part) has ever had any interest in, will suddenly turn into a massive interest AND moneyspinner, along the lines of the proper World Cup for countries around the world.
With eight months to go, FIFA don’t even have any sponsors or broadcast deals set up which says it all.
Personally, I don’t even think the tournament will go ahead and this legal action from players and leagues will simply rubber stamp that. If this 2025 FIFA Club World Cup did go ahead, it would be a huge embarrassment for FIFA and the financial losses would be huge as well, never mind the minimal number of people actually going to the matches, or indeed watching from home, that is, if they end up getting any broadcasters showing any interest.
As I said above, FIFA aren’t alone in behaving disgracefully and for example, UEFA generating far more games to be played in the Champions League and other club European competitions is ludicrous. As is the sheer number of pointless international friendlies for national sides, including Nations League matches which in reality are just dressed up friendlies. To have September, October and November (and March!) fortnight breaks without club football is just shocking.
The top European leagues and players’ union Fifpro have filed a legal complaint against Fifa with the European Commission over what they claim is an “abuse of dominance” by world football’s governing body.
The European Leagues, which represents 39 leagues – including the Premier League – and 1,130 clubs across 33 countries, claim, along with the European branch of Fifpro, that Fifa has abused its role under European competition law when it comes to the international fixture calendar.
The Spanish La Liga is not a member of the European Leagues but is joining the action.
Alexander Bielefeld, director of policy at Fifpro, said the different parties “had submitted a legal complaint to the European Commission” and called it “unprecedented”.
BBC Sport looks at the case from both sides and the arguments being made.
There has been an ongoing row about the number of games players face during a season and this is the latest legal action that has been filed on the issue.
The Professional Footballers’ Association joined a legal action against Fifa in June about the “overloaded and unworkable” football calendar.
The PFA and the French players’ union filed a claim at the Brussels court of commerce “challenging the legality of Fifa’s decisions to unilaterally set the international match calendar and, in particular, the decision to create and schedule the Fifa Club World Cup 2025”.
There are scheduled to be 12 European representatives at the expanded Club World Cup, to be held in the United States from 15 June-13 July.
The tournament was confirmed by the Fifa Council in December 2022 and the PFA argues it is a “tipping point for the football calendar and the ability of players to be able to take meaningful breaks between seasons”.
Fifpro has also claimed, external “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”.
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