“Unfortunately, FIFA has consistently refused to involve national leagues and players’ associations in the decision-making process,” the federations said in a statement on Tuesday.
For its part, the Professional Footballers’ Association said: “FIFA’s decisions over the past years have repeatedly favoured its competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body, and harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the welfare of players.”
He added, “The international match schedule is now crowded with dates, and has become unsustainable if we look at national championships, and poses a risk to the health of players.”
The legal move supports warnings sent to FIFA by the associations in May, calling on the world body to rethink what they claimed was an “abusive decision-making process”, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup and the Club World Cup.
This comes after the European Court of Justice’s ruling last December, which concluded that FIFA and UEFA had abused their dominant positions as competition organisers in a case brought by prominent clubs who tried to launch a Super League in 2021.
FIFA manages the dates of international matches and tournaments, and determines when clubs must release their players who are called up to national teams, to respond to the request.
The European Commission in Brussels is the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union and can intervene in alleged violations of competition law.
Source: AP
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2024-07-24 12:57:59
