From London and Milan to Madrid and Frankfurt, Europe’s four largest domestic leagues have opened a joint challenge to FIFA’s structure of power, urging a governing overhaul that would give leagues, clubs, players and national associations a binding voice over the game’s biggest decisions.
The Premier League, Serie A, LaLiga and Bundesliga said FIFA must separate its regulatory authority from its commercial interests, establish meaningful checks on its president and submit major initiatives to independent evidence-based scrutiny. The declaration was signed by Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, Bundesliga chief executive Marc Lenz, LaLiga president Javier Tebas and Lega Calcio Serie A chief executive Luigi De Siervo.
The intervention comes at a time when football’s international calendar and the expansion of FIFA competitions have placed growing pressure on domestic schedules. The four leagues argued that national competitions provide the weekly foundation of the sport, filling stadiums, sustaining local communities, creating employment and supporting grassroots investment.
A demand for a new balance of power
The leagues said the issue extends beyond any one office-holder. Their concern is whether the FIFA presidency should be able to hold extensive political, commercial and regulatory influence without effective counterweights or the consent of those most affected.
They pointed to the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, which would have created a company capable of taking control of FIFA competitions and potentially selling shares. Although football stakeholders succeeded in stopping that plan, the leagues said the circumstances that allowed it to emerge have not been removed.
They also called for clear constitutional limits within FIFA and for individual disciplinary matters to remain demonstrably insulated from political intervention. In their view, reforms discussed after the Forward Enterprise episode cannot be confined to procedural adjustments.
“Football needs a strong FIFA,” the four leagues said, while insisting that institutional strength must be matched by accountability, oversight and trust.
Calendar pressure and the European complaint
The statement underlined the disparity between the World Cup and the wider professional game. It said roughly one per cent of the world’s professional players take part in FIFA’s flagship tournament, while the overwhelming majority and their clubs must halt domestic activity during international windows.
The leagues objected to major decisions being taken unilaterally, particularly expansions of the International Match Calendar and longer periods in which domestic competitions must pause. They said stakeholders with the greatest exposure to those choices are too often reduced to an advisory role.
They cited their October 2024 complaint to the European Commission concerning the International Match Calendar as an example of what they regard as a defective governance model. The central allegation is that FIFA can use regulatory authority to advance its own commercial objectives without sufficiently considering the economic and social sustainability of domestic competitions.
The declaration noted that international legal decisions have repeatedly made clear that sporting governing bodies do not possess unlimited regulatory power. When FIFA organises competitions, the leagues argued, it must address the inherent conflict of interest through transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate rules, developed inclusively and open to effective independent review.
Three reforms requested
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A permanent stakeholder body: FIFA should create a standing institution representing national associations, leagues, clubs and male and female players. It should receive full information about new plans and play a meaningful role in decisions. On matters including the calendar, employment, competitions and key football assets, approval from directly affected groups should be required.
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Published independent assessments: Every major FIFA proposal should begin with a defined rationale, supporting evidence and an independent assessment released before a decision. The review should consider players, clubs, leagues, supporters and football’s broader development, examine alternatives and be followed by a public explanation of the final choice.
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Institutional separation: FIFA’s role as regulator and guardian of the sport should be protected from its commercial position as organiser of global competitions. The leagues want genuinely independent appointments, budgets and powers for ethics, financial oversight and electoral bodies.
The four leagues said these safeguards would protect the legitimacy of FIFA’s competition rights, including the World Cup, for the benefit of the wider game rather than a single institution or office.
Call to presidential candidates
Attention is now being directed towards the next FIFA presidential mandate. The leagues called on every candidate to publish a reform programme, debate it publicly and observe fair-election standards.
They want the eventual president to convene a Governance Convention within the first 100 days of the new term. Chaired by an independent body representing FIFA member associations and the broader football community, it would be tasked with delivering a public report within six months.
The statement also demanded strict political neutrality from FIFA’s financial, legal, communications and marketing resources, as well as from development funds. None, the leagues said, should provide an electoral advantage to any candidate.
Confederations, national associations, leagues, clubs, player unions, supporter groups and public authorities across all continents were invited to support the campaign. The message from Europe’s major league offices was that the coming contest should concern not only who leads FIFA, but the rules under which it is led.
