September 25 – Four of Europe’s Big 5 leagues – the world’s biggest domestic club competitions – have piled more pressure on embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino telling him reform must go deeper than “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 “genuinely independent” ethics, financial oversight and electoral bodies – Infantino disbanded the independently appointed ethics principle for a judiciary that he could appoint himself at his first Fifa Congress as president in Mexico in 2016. It demands “that individual disciplinary matters remain demonstrably insulated from political interference.”
“FIFA’s president has actively promoted exploitative ideas rather than safeguarding against them. And while football’s stakeholders ultimately forced the withdrawal of the FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme, the conditions that led to FFE remain.”
The leagues also call for “a permanent body representing key stakeholders, including national associations, leagues, clubs, and players from 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 any stakeholder recognition or position in FIFA’s decision making process to the world’s domestic leagues or their representative bodies, the European Leagues and World Leagues Associations.
“We are speaking up together, as founding members of European Leagues and the World Leagues Association, because we understand how FIFA’s relentless expansionism affects everyone,” says the joint statement.
It highlights their stewardship of a professional system “that connects the grassroots of our sport with elite domestic and international competitions,” and the social and economic impact their leagues have around the world.
The leagues point to FIFA’s unfettered expansion of the International Match Calendar and extending the periods in which domestic competitions must pause as examples of the “major unilateral decisions directly affecting us.” Decisions that Infantino takes in a bubble where “the stakeholders most affected are not meaningfully involved in the decision-making process.”
“The World Cup may be the pinnacle of our sport (arguable – ed), but the foundations of football are sustained week in and week out, in packed stadiums and local communities, by dedicated players, fans, clubs and leagues around the world,” says the statement.
The leagues have all separately called for Infantino’s resignation citing loss of trust and his constant overstepping of his remit as FIFA president.
They call on whoever is president following the elections in March 2027 to, within 100 days of taking office, “convene an independently chaired Governance Convention representing member associations and the wider football community, mandated to report publicly within six months.”
“Now is the moment to decide not only who will lead FIFA, but also how FIFA should be led. Leagues have a crucial role to play in this process, and we want to ensure that the voice of every league is heard.”
The statement is signed by Richard Masters, Chief Executive, Premier League, Marc Lenz, CEO, Bundesliga, Javier Tebas, President, LALIGA, and Luigi De Siervo, CEO, Lega Calcio Serie A.
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