Leaders of Europe's largest football leagues have initiated a direct challenge to FIFA's management, demanding the implementation of systemic changes. The goal of these reforms is to protect world football from unchecked presidential power and excessive commercial expansion.
In a joint statement titled 'To unite the game, FIFA must be reformed,' heads of the Premier League, the Bundesliga CEO, the La Liga president, and the Serie A CEO stated that the fundamental foundations of football are being undermined by the constant governance crisis within FIFA.
The statement emphasizes that while the World Cup may be considered the pinnacle of the sport, the foundation of football is maintained weekly in full stadiums and local communities thanks to dedicated players, fans, clubs, and leagues worldwide.
This declaration came after FIFA President Gianni Infantino proposed a consultation process following the collapse of the controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme. This scheme aimed to attract private equity into major international tournaments but was postponed.
League leaders argue that the conditions that allowed FFE to arise remain unchanged, insisting that superficial changes are insufficient to address FIFA's institutional shortcomings.
The signatories noted that the issue of FIFA's governance goes far beyond the role of one individual. They raise a broader question about whether the FIFA President should simultaneously hold regulatory, commercial, and political powers without effective checks and balances, including stakeholder consent.
Furthermore, they added that when FIFA organizes competitions, it must also eliminate inherent conflicts of interest through transparent, objective, non-discriminatory, and proportionate rules and criteria.
Three Key Demands for Reform
Presenting the founders of the European Leagues and the Global Leagues Association, the coalition of leaders outlined three fundamentally non-negotiable pillars for restructuring the global governing body of football:
Genuine Stakeholder Role in Decision-Making:
A permanent body must be established to represent national associations, leagues, clubs, and players, possessing the right to make binding decisions on critical issues such as the International Match Calendar (IMC), employment conditions, and competition formats.
Evidence-Based Policy and Oversight:
All major proposals must undergo an independent impact assessment that analyzes player welfare, economic sustainability, and grassroots development before voting.
Institutional separation of regulation and commerce is also required: structural guarantees that separate FIFA's role as a global regulator from its commercial activities as a tournament organizer, ensuring independent oversight of ethics, financial auditing, and electoral procedures.
A Call to Presidential Candidates
Looking ahead to the upcoming cycle of FIFA presidential elections, league leaders called on all potential candidates to officially support these three principles and commit to convening a Governance Convention chaired by an independent party within their first 100 days in office.
Concluding their statement, they remarked: 'Now is the time to decide not only who will lead FIFA, but how FIFA should be governed. Football needs a strong FIFA institution. But strength must be accompanied by accountability. FIFA's authority can only stem from the division of responsibilities, acceptance of control, and earning trust.'