European Leagues escalated its challenge to FIFA’s control over football scheduling Tuesday, expanding its complaint to the European Commission to include what it describes as FIFA’s “abusive conduct” over the women’s International Match Calendar.
The organization, which represents professional domestic leagues and more than 1,300 clubs across Europe, formally submitted the expanded complaint to the European Commission’s competition watchdog. It argues that FIFA’s dual role as football’s global governing body and a competition organizer creates a conflict of interest that breaches EU competition law.
The latest complaint follows European Leagues’ earlier challenge over the men’s international calendar. In both cases, the organization alleges that FIFA uses its regulatory authority to promote its own competitions and commercial interests at the expense of domestic leagues.
“As in men’s football, FIFA consistently uses its regulatory power to favor its own competition and commercial interests to the detriment of women’s football and of European national leagues,” European Leagues said in a statement.
The organization also pointed to the recent controversy surrounding FIFA’s abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative as further evidence of what it sees as a structural conflict within the governing body.
“The recent controversy surrounding the aborted FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative has further exposed this structural conflict and vividly illustrates how profit-driven motives taint FIFA’s regulatory decisions and decision-making processes,” it said.
“The case law of the European Court of Justice makes clear that, to continue serving as football’s global governing body, FIFA must exercise its regulatory functions in a way that is transparent, objective, nondiscriminatory and proportionate so as to neutralize this conflict of interest.”
FIFA said it was “disappointed” by European Leagues’ approach, adding that the women’s International Match Calendar for 2026-29 was “unanimously approved” by the FIFA Council in May 2024.
“The four-year women’s International Match Calendar was backed by extensive research, analysis and consultation with key stakeholders, including with European and global leagues, with the impact on players at the heart of its design,” a FIFA spokesperson told Reuters.
“Highlights of the calendar include a decrease in the number of international windows from six to five, reducing travel for players and disruption for domestic leagues and clubs.
“FIFA believes in the power of dialogue as opposed to legal action and escalation, and our doors always remain open to reach agreements in the best interest of football.”
FIFA pushed back the inaugural Women’s Club World Cup by two years to January 2028 to allow stakeholders more time to prepare and give players breathing space in a condensed schedule.
However, although it will take place during the NWSL offseason in the U.S., it will disrupt the campaign for most of Europe’s top leagues.
Europe has been allocated five direct qualification places and one play-in slot for the 2028 Women’s Club World Cup.
The tournament would also need to be squeezed into an already packed calendar that includes the Women’s World Cup in June and July 2027, followed by the Olympic Games in July 2028.
Unlike the men’s Olympic football tournament, which is largely restricted to under-23 players, the women’s competition is effectively a senior international tournament.
However, a report by FIFPRO, the global players’ union, on women’s player workload, published in December, said some domestic leagues are failing players through “underload” because they do not provide enough fixtures.
European Leagues said it was ready to engage with the European Commission, public authorities and other football stakeholders throughout the investigation.
“The European Commission must now act to ensure that EU law is respected and that the future of women’s professional football is not determined unilaterally by FIFA,” it added.
