“If FIFA refuses to formally commit to resolving the above issues at its next Council, we will be forced to advise our members on the options available to them, both individually and collectively, to protect their interests proactively”, indicate the opponents, who raise the threat of “legal action against FIFA, for which we have requested the opinion of an external expert”.
No more years without a tournament
The future Club World Cup, organized for the first time with 32 teams (including twelve European) from the six FIFA confederations, is currently scheduled from June 15 to July 13, 2025 in the United States. It must replace the current seven-team format (the six continental champions plus a team from the host country) which takes place over ten days in December. FIFA would like to make it the equivalent of the World Cup (for national teams), both to generate new revenue and to give non-European clubs the means to catch up with teams affiliated to UEFA.
This new project, which should have already seen the light of day in 2021 in China before being canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, faces a problem of overloading the schedule. The UEFA Nations League (a four-team tournament) is scheduled for June 4-8, 2025. The African Cup of Nations (CAN) was also scheduled to take place in June-July in Morocco, but it was postponed (for the moment) from July 23 to August 21, 2025. As a reminder, the Premier League, the championship which concentrates the most international players, will end on May 25, 2025, six days before the final of the 2025 Champions League , on May 31 in Munich.
“Unilateral decisions”
Generally speaking, footballers’ unions and leagues deplore a constant demand for the best players, between an increase in matches (new formula for the Champions League from the 2024-2025 season, an increase in the number of teams in phases Euro and World Cup finals) and creation of new competitions. The next World Cup, in 2026, will take place in three huge countries (Canada, United States and Mexico), across four time zones, with 48 teams, eight matches instead of seven for the winner and ten days of competition. more. These criticisms do not spare UEFA, engaged with FIFA in a fight to “occupy the field”. Summers in odd years, long synonymous with periods of mental regeneration for players, are now as crowded as even years.
In a statement, FIFA refuted these criticisms, emphasizing that “the dates of the 2025 Club World Cup have been set so that they are in harmony with the international calendar, in order to allow sufficient time between the final of the tournament and the start of the season in many national championships. In addition, “a minimum of three days of rest between matches should be guaranteed in order to preserve the well-being of the players,” continues the international federation.
But the World League Association and Fifpro go further in their attacks and specifically accuse FIFA of “continually making unilateral decisions that benefit its own competitions and commercial interests, while negatively affecting national leagues and players”. They add: “Over a long period, FIFA has ignored repeated attempts by leagues and unions to engage on this issue.” The subject was discussed during the World Leagues “Board” in April in London, according to AFP.
