Joint action with the players’ union against the supreme body of football: “Abuse of dominant position and conflict of interest”. Club World Cup and extended national team activity on the horizon
A saturated calendar and player health at risk. So the European League and the players’ union decided to go on the counterattack, announcing an appeal to the European Commission against FIFA for “abuse of a dominant position”. The Club World Cup and extended national team activity are on the horizon. “For several years – the statement reads – the leagues and players’ unions have repeatedly urged FIFA to develop a clear, transparent and fair process regarding the international match calendar. The latest formal request was sent to the FIFA Congress and Council in May 2024. Unfortunately, FIFA has consistently refused to include the national leagues and players’ unions in the decision-making process, and the international match calendar is now oversaturated, unsustainable for national leagues and a risk to players’ health. “In recent years, it has repeatedly favored its competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body and harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the well-being of players.”
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The European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe make matters worse: “The national leagues and players’ associations, which represent the interests of all clubs and players at national level and regulate working relations through collectively agreed solutions, cannot accept that global regulations are determined unilaterally. The complaint will show that FIFA’s conduct violates EU competition law and constitutes in particular an abuse of a dominant position: FIFA plays a dual role as world football regulator and competition regulator, which is a conflict of interest, in line with recent jurisprudence from the EU courts, requiring FIFA to exercise its regulatory functions in a transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate manner with regard to the international match calendar is far less than these requirements.
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