25 September – Four of Europe’s Big 5 leagues, the world’s biggest domestic club competitions, have piled more pressure on FIFA president Gianni Infantino, telling him that reform must go beyond the “surface level”, and under Infantino’s leadership “football has suffered one of the biggest abuses of power in FIFA’s history”.
The statement calls for “truly independent” ethics, financial oversight and electoral bodies: Infantino dissolved the ethics principle for an independently appointed judiciary that could nominate himself at his first FIFA Congress as president in Mexico in 2016. It demands “that individual disciplinary matters remain demonstrably insulated from political interference.”
“The FIFA president has actively promoted exploitative ideas rather than safeguarding against them. And while football stakeholders eventually forced the withdrawal of the FIFA Forward Enterprise programme, the conditions that led to FFE remain.”
The leagues are also calling for “a permanent body representing key stakeholders, including national associations, leagues, clubs and players across men’s and women’s football”.
One of the enduring, frankly remarkable, features of Infantino’s unilateral decision-making has been his absolute refusal to give recognition or standing to any stakeholder in FIFA’s decision-making process in the world’s national leagues or their representative bodies, the European Leagues and the world league associations.
“We speak together, as founding members of the European Leagues and the World Leagues Association, because we understand how FIFA’s relentless expansionism affects everyone,” the joint statement said.
He highlights his management of a professional system “that connects the base of our sport with elite national and international competitions” and the social and economic impact that his leagues have around the world.
The leagues point to FIFA’s unlimited expansion of the international match schedule and the extension of periods in which domestic competitions must be stopped as examples of the “significant unilateral decisions that directly affect us”. The decisions Infantino makes in a bubble where “the actors most affected are not significantly involved in the decision-making process.”
“The World Cup can be the pinnacle of our sport (debatable – ed), but the fundamentals of football are maintained week after week, in packed stadiums and local communities, by dedicated players, fans, clubs and leagues around the world,” the statement said.
All the leagues have separately called for Infantino’s resignation, citing a loss of confidence and constant overreach in his duties as FIFA president.
They call on whoever is president after the March 2027 election to, within 100 days of taking office, “convene an independently chaired Governing Convention representing member associations and the wider football community, with a mandate to report publicly within six months”.
“Now is the time to decide not only who will run FIFA, but also how FIFA should be run. The leagues have a crucial role to play in this process and we want to make sure the voice of all leagues is heard.”
The statement is signed by Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, Bundesliga chief executive Marc Lenz, LALIGA president Javier Tebas and Lega Calcio Serie A chief executive Luigi De Siervo.
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