June 13 – In the deepening friction over the crowded international match calendar, world players union Fifpro has followed through on its threat and launched legal action against FIFA over the packed schedule and the 2025 Club World Cup.
On Thursday, Fifpro, based in Amsterdam, said they had filed a lawsuit against the global governing body in Belgium against the international match calendar.
In a statement, Fifpro argued that “these decisions violate the rights of players and their unions under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights while also potentially violating EU competition law” and added that “the claim asks the court to refer four questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling.”
Last month, FIFA said it would not consider the demand by Fifpro and the World Leagues Association to reschedule the 2025 Club World Cup, a 32-team club tournament that will be hosted by the United States next summer, even after both organisations threatened legal action.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino even reinforced their position during his FIFA Congress address saying: ““We should probably stop this futile debate, which is really pointless and focus on what we have to do, what our mission is, which is to organise.”
Some stakeholders argue that FIFA did not conduct a proper consultation process before pressing ahead with plans for the Club World Cup. When the FIFA Council approved the international match calendar in 2023, a FIFA release highlighted a “detailed consultation process”, though how rigorous that process was is open to interpretation.
The four questions to the ECJ are framed in a competition law or European Charter of Human Rights context. Question three reads: “Should we consider that the right to healthy working conditions, guaranteed by Article 31 CFREU, is violated by FIFA Decisions imposing on certain players an additional workload of around 6 weeks each year that FIFA organises this “Club World Cup”?
Question four reads: “Should these Decisions (International Match Calendar and Club World Cup 2025) be considered to give rise to restrictions of competition by object (or alternatively by effect) within the meaning of Article 101.1 TFEU…?”
FIFA has been contacted for a request to comment.
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