September 9: The European leagues widen their legal battle against FIFA, alleging the governing body’s abuse of power over the women’s fixture schedule and regulatory decisions in an updated complaint to the European Commission.
The stakeholder reiterates that FIFA’s conflict of interest as a competition organizer and governing body is seen as a breach of EU competition law, this time in relation to a lack of meaningful engagement with women’s professional leagues. Representing leagues from across the continent, the European Leagues confirmed that they presented the extension of the complaint to the European Commission on Tuesday.
In a statement, the European Leagues wrote: “FIFA has conflicting roles as a governing body and competition organizer, giving rise to a conflict of interest. As in men’s football, FIFA consistently uses its regulatory power to further its own competition and commercial interests to the detriment of women’s football and European national leagues. The recent controversy surrounding the aborted FIFA Forward Enterprise has further illustrated this structural conflict. Motives taint FIFA’s regulatory decisions and decision-making processes.”
The European Leagues said their complaint would now include “FIFA’s abusive conduct in relation to the women’s international match schedule and related women’s football regulatory decisions”.
Last spring, the European Leagues welcomed 14 women’s divisions to their ranks in June. The statement said: “The European Commission must act now to ensure that EU law is respected and that the future of women’s professional football is not unilaterally determined by FIFA.”
The European Leagues previously asked FIFA for governance reform following Infantino’s World Cup privatization plans and raised the possibility of expanding the World Cup to 64 teams. The stakeholder first filed a complaint with the European Commission to protect the welfare of male players in October 2024. FIFPro Europe withdrew the complaint on the eve of the 2026 World Cup.
In its own statement, the World Leagues Association said: “Through the Women’s Leagues Forum, the World Leagues Association has repeatedly contacted FIFA and called for a transparent, objective and inclusive process for decisions affecting women’s football.
“But the decisions taken by FIFA have consistently expanded and prioritized FIFA’s own competitions, while undermining the ability of domestic leagues to organize their own competitions and develop women’s football at national level.
“This problem is part of the wider structural challenge created by FIFA’s inherent conflicts of interest in which FIFA abuses its regulatory power to benefit its own commercial interests. Instead, FIFA should act as a custodian of the entire football pyramid.”
A FIFA spokesperson refuted the claims saying that the 2026-2029 International Women’s Match Calendar at its meeting held on May 15, 2024, and that it “commits to broadening and identifying emerging stakeholders in anticipation of talks that will begin on the next iteration of the March calendar.”
On the current fixture schedule, the spokesperson said: “The four-year international women’s fixture schedule was supported by extensive research, analysis and consultation with key stakeholders, including European and global leagues, with the impact on female players at the heart of its design. Highlights of the schedule include a reduction in the number of international windows from six to five, reducing player travel and domestic leagues and clubs.
“FIFA believes in the power of dialogue over legal action and escalation, and our doors always remain open to reaching agreements in the best interests of football. Indeed, a landmark agreement reached with FIFPRO earlier this year enabled ground-breaking reforms to the global transfer system, adopted together in full consensus with all football stakeholders.”
A FIFA spokesman said that “while FIFA is disappointed by the European Leagues’ approach, we have not been officially notified of the extent of its complaint and are therefore not in a position to comment further.”
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