The footballers have already warned the International Football Federation that there would be reactions to the overscheduling of matches. However, before considering a possible strike (which now seems to be quite around the corner), they found some allies. Apart from the managers, it would appear that the teams themselves, along with the national leagues, share their concerns. As a first step of the aforementioned reactions, the European Club Association (ECA), the Football Players Worldwide (FIFPRO), and LaLiga, filed a formal complaint against FIFA, to the European Commission.
The background of the formal complaint against FIFA
First, let’s point out that La Liga is not a member of the Association. Nevertheless, they also join the debate. Totally, 39 national leagues and 1,130 clubs worldwide, say that the ruling body has overstepped its authority and abused its power, in violation of the European Union laws. In fact, the latest action follows suite with a claim filed at the Brussels’ Court of Commerce by the Professional Footballers Association and the union of French players. That claim was more focused and “challenged the legality of FIFA’s decisions to unilaterally set the international match calendar and, in particular, the decision to create and schedule the Club World Cup 2025”.
According to FIFPRO:
“FIFA’s decisions over the last years have repeatedly favored its own competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body, and harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the welfare of players”.
Liverpool’s Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson, suffering a hamstring injury himself, made things even clearer:
“Sometimes nobody asks the players what they think about adding more games. Maybe our opinion doesn’t matter, but everybody knows what we think about having more games. Everybody’s tired of that.”
It’s a fact. There is no break for the players.
It seems that the entire affair is a rivalry between FIFA and UEFA. The latter decided to increase the number of teams that participate in all of its competitions to 36. Meaning a lot more matches for the three European tournaments (Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League). Their schedule ends on May 31, 2025. This is also the date that most national leagues also end.
However, the players do not get to rest as there is a schedule for international games between national teams from Jun 02 to Jun 10. Then, five days later, on June 15, the Club World Cup begins, lasting up to July 13. Considering that the preparation stage for the 2025-2026 season has to begin in August, it clearly says that the footballers do not get any vacation time at all.
The main argument for the number of matches is that teams can use a greater number of players in rotation, giving young footballers the chance to get some experience and get more meaningful careers, instead of being sparingly used. However, with the stakes of each competition, and, most of all, the ranking system that determines everything, this is not an option. Teams have to use their best, all the time.
Different reactions from FIFA and UEFA
The main focus of the complaint, issued a statement, claiming that there was full consultation with the plaintiffs about the changes that they intended to implement between 2025 and 2030. In our opinion, the rest of the statement is quite controversial. First, they accuse the complainants for hypocrisy and no consideration for anyone else than themselves. And then:
«It is fully within our rights to set the parameters of our competitions whilst respecting the regulatory framework in place. Those leagues apparently prefer a calendar filled with friendlies and summer tours, often involving extensive global travel. By contrast, FIFA must protect the overall interests of world football, including the protection of players, everywhere and at all levels of the game.»
On the other hand, Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA, appeared more understanding to the concerns, but just as controversial. While, he admits that there is no more space for matches and that the calendar has indeed reached full capacity, he claims that those who complain are a minority. His words can be construed as infuriating:
“The impact is very different among clubs and players. Some are over-burdened. The others have spare capacity. In fairness to those who are stretched, I stand by what I said two months ago, there is no room for additional matches. But I have to add this, who is complaining? The ones who have the highest salaries and the ones with 25 top players. The ones with lower salaries and hardly 11 players are not complaining. They love to play.”
The formal complaint against FIFA is probably a pointless action
Unless it is a warning shot of things to come, the action taken by the representatives of the players and the clubs is quite pointless. Neither the 2024-2025 season, nor the 2025-2026 one can be altered as there will not be a decision from the European Court. The reason being that it will take at least 12 months of deliberations with all parties involved, just to determine if the Commission will open a formal investigation of the issue. Which means at least another two years until the verdict. And that does not include appeals.
In all likelihood, as per David Terrier’s (president of FIFPRO Europe) interview at BBC Sport, the players will declare a strike. In his own words:
“The players are clear; they will go to strike. I think we just need to manage the players for the strategy of the strike. But the strike, if they press on the button, the player will go. Now it’s clear.”
The Director of International Football Relations of the Premier League Mathieu Moreuil, added:
“This is unfortunate but the message we have together is very simple – enough is enough, we can’t take it anymore. We now have an international match calendar beyond saturation, which creates a lot of issues for domestic leagues in terms of scheduling and other domestic competitions, and an international match calendar that creates risk for players and their health. We’ve tried to engage with FIFA on that for years now without any positive response.”
Does the problem concern Europe only?
While FIFPRO represents the players from all over the world, it does look like the focus of the problem is Europe and the European competitions. It’s the European clubs that face the issue, and it is the European Commission that the complaint was filed to. Everyone that has expressed a concern, references the conditions that exists in the Old Continent. But does that mean that the rest of the world is OK with what’s going on?
Taking apart the national teams (where the number of matches is the same), compared to the 40-60 matches that the European Clubs play each season, the equivalent numbers in Africa are 38, Japan hosts the greatest number in Asia with 46, while there’s a huge difference between Brazil where we have 69 games per season and Argentina where the number is just 36. Yet, there has been no official reaction from any of the ruling bodies, to FIFA’s decisions, from these continents.
Does that mean that there is no problem? Or does it mean that the player and club associations are waiting to see what happens in Europe to follow up? It does seem that if they also joined up, it would mean that the issue is indeed universal. Since there has been no official reaction, we can only speculate.
A strike follow-up to the formal complaint against FIFA would be quite bad
If the footballers do decide to declare a strike, then it would be quite a problem for all parties involved. The fans will miss the matches of their favorite teams. The clubs will lose quite a substantial part of their revenues. Sponsors will probably withdraw their funding. Not to mention, of course, that the punters will not be able to place the majority of their bets, as those are directed towards football and the tournaments in Europe. In turn, this will result in a major reduction of the income of the top Asian and European bookmakers.
Let’s be honest. The core of the issue is neither the injuries to the players, nor the good of the sport. It’s money and financial interests. Clubs complain because the overscheduling does not allow them to obtain funding for their teams. Funding that comes only when they achieve their goals which is only possible when they use their best players. FIFA and UEFA want their increased share of the revenues that come from the increased number of matches. If the players go on strike, all of the above will be lost. And the players are the only ones concerned with their own health and career issues.
While it is true that European football holds the lion’s share of the betting industry, it is not the only option that is available to the punters. There are plenty of other sports that can fill in the gap and claim a piece of the pie. Those that decide to open an account at the best betting software, have 16 other sports to choose from. Nevertheless, it does not diminish the problem. If a solution does not come through soon, then the domino will take on a lot more than just the footballers and the clubs.
