Europe’s leading leagues demand major FIFA reforms over governance concerns

The leaders of Europe’s leading football leagues have called for sweeping changes to FIFA’s governance, warning that unchecked presidential authority and the organisation’s commercial ambitions are threatening the foundations of the global game.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, Bundesliga CEO Marc Lenz, LALIGA president Javier Tebas and Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo issued a joint statement entitled “To Unify the Game, FIFA Must Reform”.

They said football’s governance crisis was undermining a sport built through the regular work of clubs, players, supporters and leagues worldwide.

“The World Cup may be the pinnacle of our sport, but the foundations of football are sustained week in and week out, in packed stadiums and local communities, by dedicated players, fans, clubs and leagues around the world,” the statement said.

The intervention follows FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s proposal for a process consultation after the collapse of the controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme.

FFE was a plan to bring private equity investment into major international tournaments, but it has now been shelved.

The European league leaders argued that the conditions that allowed the scheme to be developed had not gone away. They said cosmetic adjustments would not resolve what they described as deeper institutional problems within FIFA.

“FIFA’s governance problem goes far beyond the role of one individual,” the executives said.

“The wider question is whether FIFA’s president should simultaneously wield such regulatory, commercial and political power without effective checks and balances, including the agreement of affected stakeholders.”

They also called for clearer safeguards when FIFA organises competitions.

“Where FIFA seeks to organise competitions, it must also neutralise an inherent conflict of interest via rules and criteria that are transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate.”

The executives, representing the founding members of European Leagues and the World Leagues Association, set out three principles they said must form the basis of any restructuring.

The first was a permanent stakeholder body, with representatives from national associations, leagues, clubs and players given binding authority over major matters. Those areas would include the International Match Calendar (IMC), employment terms and competition formats.

Secondly, they called for all significant proposals to be supported by evidence and independent scrutiny. Impact assessments would be required before votes and would examine player welfare, economic sustainability and grassroots development.

Their third demand was a formal separation between FIFA’s regulatory responsibilities and its commercial role as a tournament organiser. They said independent oversight should cover ethics, financial auditing and electoral procedures.

Call to presidential candidates

With FIFA’s next presidential election cycle approaching, the league executives urged every potential candidate to endorse the three principles formally.

They also want candidates to commit to holding an independently chaired Governance Convention within their first 100 days in office.

“Now is the moment to decide not only who will lead FIFA, but also how FIFA should be led,” the statement concluded.

“Football needs FIFA to be a strong institution. But strength must be matched by accountability. FIFA’s authority can only come from sharing responsibility, accepting scrutiny and earning trust.”