FIFPRO Europe demands FIFA reform after Gianni Infantino’s failed investment plan

FIFPRO Europe has called for sweeping reforms to FIFA’s decision-making structures after President Gianni Infantino was forced to abandon a controversial investment proposal that faced widespread opposition.

The European players’ union said on Monday that the collapse of the Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative should not end scrutiny of how major decisions are taken within football’s governing body.

FIFPRO Europe argued that the proposal exposed weaknesses in FIFA’s governance system, particularly the ability of senior officials to advance significant changes without sufficient consultation with players, clubs, leagues and other key stakeholders.

The union’s concerns were outlined in a new study produced in collaboration with Player IQ and Football Benchmark.

The report criticised the FFE proposal, which Infantino introduced earlier this year before withdrawing it following mounting resistance from across the football community.

“FFE was an attempt to convert the game’s core competitions into an investable, tradeable and undervalued financial asset for private capital,” the report stated.

FIFPRO Europe said the circumstances surrounding the proposal showed that governance reforms were needed even after the investment plan had been shelved.

The union called for an independent review of FIFA Council executive decision-making processes, arguing that major changes affecting football’s most important competitions should not be capable of being pursued by a single office acting alone.

It also demanded greater involvement of players, clubs and leagues in football’s formal governance structures, alongside national football associations.

The report comes as football continues to debate how financial power and decision-making authority should be distributed between Europe and the rest of the world.

In legal proceedings linked to challenges brought by European governing body UEFA, FIFA has argued that opposition to its proposals is partly motivated by attempts to maintain Europe’s long-standing influence over the global game.

FIFPRO Europe, however, said it supported increased development funding for smaller football federations and did not oppose stronger solidarity mechanisms.

Its objection was to how such initiatives are developed and implemented.

“Any future proposal to grow solidarity funding should be built together, through trusted governance, not advanced unilaterally,” it said.

The players’ union also highlighted Europe’s enormous contribution to the quality and commercial value of the World Cup.

According to the study, European clubs employed 856 players at the expanded 2026 World Cup and released footballers with a combined estimated value of €16.9 billion ($19.8 billion).

That represented 94% of the tournament’s total player value, according to the report.

The dominance of European clubs was also reflected in individual recognition, with all 20 winners of major individual awards across the previous five World Cup editions employed by European clubs.

FIFPRO Europe said those figures demonstrated why players and the European club system should have a meaningful voice in decisions concerning the sport’s “critical infrastructure”.

The report further questioned how FIFA’s growing tournament revenues are distributed.

It found that the proportion of World Cup revenue allocated as prize money to participating countries had dropped from 10.5% in 2006 to about 7.7% in 2026, despite significant growth in overall tournament revenue.

“Players receive only a fraction of that return, while participating federations rely on it as FIFA’s only performance-based revenue stream,” the report said.

FIFPRO Europe believes the abandoned FFE proposal should therefore serve as a warning rather than the end of the governance debate.

The union wants future reforms and financial initiatives to be developed through a broader consultation process that gives players and other football stakeholders a formal role in shaping the global game.