European Leagues tackles FIFA over women's match calendar in expanded EU complaint

Legal action from Europe's leading football leagues and the global players' union, Fifpro, has been expanded to include the world governing body's FIFA's treatment of the women's game. The European Leagues, which represents 53 professional divisions and 1,328 clubs across 34 countries, initially filed a complaint with the European Commission in October 2024 to safeguard men's players' welfare.

The complaint alleged that FIFA abused its dominant position under European competition law by failing to involve national leagues and player unions in the new men's international schedule unveiled in 2023. The European Leagues has now extended its complaint to address FIFA's "abusive conduct regarding the women's international match calendar and related women's football regulatory decisions."

The European Commission must now intervene to uphold EU law and prevent FIFA from unilaterally determining the future of women's professional football. FIFA's conduct mirrors the same pattern of conflict of interest found in men's football, favoring its own interests over women's football and European national leagues. In June, the European Leagues welcomed 14 women's divisions to its membership, including the Women's Super League and the Scottish Women’s Premier League.

FIFA is currently under intense scrutiny following its president Gianni Infantino's controversial plan to sell stakes in World Cup and other competitions to private investors, which led to a global outcry and a threat of Uefa's boycott. Infantino, who has been president since 2016, is set to run for re-election in March. FIFA recently accused Uefa of launching a "smear campaign" against it and its leadership, challenging Uefa's legal papers requesting evidence and documents from FIFA.