After the strong complaints from the footballers about the number of matches and the hard setback that FIFA suffered in the case of Lassana Diarra, The union of European Leagues (European Leagues) and the FIFPro players’ union of the Old Continent legally sued the World football regulator for “abuse of power” and “exercising a dominant position regarding the match calendar.”
At a press conference held in Brussels, Belgium, the main entities that are pursuing the lawsuit, including Javier Tebaspresident of The Spanish League, David Terrierpresident of FIFPRO Europe y Mathieu Moreuil, director of international relations Premier Leaguemade public the discontent of the powers of the world of football against the FIFA. These actors were supported by the organization that brings together the 39 leagues that take place in Europe and include more than a thousand clubs.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was the creation of the Club Super World Cupwhich will take place in the USA once the regular season ends. According to the claim, said competition was created without prior notice and consultation with the leagues’ regulatory entities and, given the lack of communication and the drastic increase in matches to be played on the agenda, the plaintiffs accused FIFA before the European Commission of exercise an abuse of power from a dominant position, in order to obtain one’s own benefit.
“The complaint explains how FIFA’s imposition of decisions on the international calendar is an abuse of a dominant position and breaches European Union law. Recent jurisprudence (…) makes it clear that FIFA must exercise its regulatory functions in a transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate manner to neutralize its conflict of interest,” explains the official statement. The letter added: “The complaint maintains that FIFA, by establishing the match schedule, is abusing its dominant positionacting unilaterally and without the necessary respect for the health and well-being of the players, nor by the competitiveness of the European football scene. Their decisions have repeatedly favored their own competitions and commercial interests.”
David Terrierone of the names with the most weight in this protest against the mother house of football, was blunt about his position when it came to defending the footballers and explaining the problems that come with an overloaded calendar. “By putting more games into an already packed schedule, you are building up a extreme mental and physical pressure about the players from the most important leagues,” explained the president of FIFPro. For its part, Javier Tebas He gave his position regarding the lack of response. “It is surprising that, after nine months of very important resolutions regarding the governance of football in Europe, FIFA has not heard or read the message that is being sent,” assured the boss of the Spanish League.
The response of FIFA and Gianni Infantino to accusations of abuse of power
The response of the accused emerged three months ago, when the lawsuit was announced. The directors of the parent entity were firm regarding the accusations and charges. At the same time that he reaffirms that all his actions are for the good of football and to revalidate its importance, the FIFA he stressed that “some European leagues, which are organizers and regulators of competitions, act with commercial interests, hypocrisy and without taking others into account.”
“The FIFA calendar is the only instrument that guarantees that international football can continue to survive, coexist and prosper alongside national and continental club football.”. “FIFA must protect the general interests of world football, including the protection of players, everywhere and at all levels of the game,” the entity noted on social networks. In the same way, Gianni Infantino assured it, who also pointed to the great competitions of the Old Continent.
“FIFA organizes around 1% of the matches of the best clubs in the world and 98-99% of the matches are organized by the different leagues, associations and confederations. FIFA finances football around the world. The income we generate does not only go to a few clubs in a country, but to 211 countries around the world. There is no other organization that does that. Our mission is to organize events and competitions and develop football around the world because 70% of FIFA member associations would not have football without the resources that come directly from FIFA,” he noted.
On the other hand, who also expressed his position and pointed out against the most important clubs on the scene and the sports superstars was Aleksander Ceferín, president of UEFA. “I have to say: who is complaining? Those with the highest salaries and those with 25 top-level footballers. “Those who earn less and only have eleven players don’t complain and they love to play.”he reflected forcefully. Although he also gave credence to the fact that the calendar cannot add more matches. “We must recognize that the match calendar has reached its maximum capacity. “We have reached the limits”he reflected.