Infantino under pressure from LaLiga, Premier, Serie A and Bundesliga

Infantino, the FIFA president, received this Friday a joint communiqué from the four most powerful leagues in Europe – LaLiga, Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga – demanding a structural overhaul of the organisation's governance and denouncing what they describe as one of the greatest abuses of power in football history.

Calls for structural reform

The text, issued under the umbrella of European Leagues and World Leagues Association, states that the concentration of regulatory, commercial and political power in the figure of the FIFA president is unacceptable. The leagues assert that FIFA's unilateral expansion, such as the extension of the International Match Calendar, suffocates local competitions and the players themselves.

‘Football has suffered one of the greatest abuses of power in FIFA’s history,’ reads the statement, which also criticises the lack of effective checks and balances and the absence of real participation by clubs, players and federations in decision‑making.

Specific demands and context

According to the communiqué, roughly 1 % of the world’s professional footballers take part in the World Cup, while the rest and their clubs must halt their activity when the domestic league is paused. This economic and social impact is central to the leagues’ complaint.

In October 2024, the leagues filed a formal complaint with the European Commission, alleging that FIFA’s poor governance prioritises commercial interests over the sustainability of national competitions.

The FIFA Forward Enterprise project, recently withdrawn after sector pressure, is cited as an example of mercantilist initiatives that, according to the leagues, continue to exist under similar conditions.

The demands are grouped into three commitments: create a permanent body that gives a voice to leagues, clubs, players and federations; ensure that critical decisions on calendar or employment require a binding agreement from the affected groups; and base any proposal on objective data and independent assessments, with ethics committees, financial oversight and truly independent electoral processes.

The communiqué is signed by Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League; Marc Lenz, CEO of the Bundesliga; Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga; and Luigi De Siervo, chief executive of Lega Serie A. The signatories stress that the initiative comes at a pivotal political moment, a few months before the next FIFA presidential election.

They urge candidates to endorse these principles and to convene, within their first 100 days, a Governance Convention chaired by an independent figure, with a six‑month deadline to present conclusions. The joint pressure from the major European leagues reveals a clear break with the tradition of accepting FIFA’s unilateral decisions, marking a possible turning point in the relationship between the global body and its main continental partners.