The drama surrounding FIFA’s 2025 Club World Cup is continuing to grow after FIFPro, the global players’ union, and top European leagues collectively filed a complaint, signaling mounting discontent over the increasingly congested football calendar. With the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League already expanding, the introduction of the new Club World Cup format has raised concerns that players will receive insufficient rest, particularly during the summer.
Today, #FIFPRO Europe, @EuropeanLeagues, and @LaLiga have filed a complaint with the @EU_Commission, challenging FIFA’s handling of the international match calendar, including decisions relating to the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.
Updates to follow 🧵 pic.twitter.com/uzDg3uxSHv
— FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) October 14, 2024
The complaint, filed with the European Commission, is part of a broader effort to push back against FIFA’s unilateral decision to schedule the expanded Club World Cup from June 15 to July 13, 2025, in the USA, with clubs like Inter and Juventus already confirmed to participate. FIFPro’s director of policy, Alexander Bielefeld, referred to the move as “unprecedented,” highlighting how unusual it is for such a large coalition of football organizations to take joint legal action.
The conflict began in June with a legal challenge in the Brussels court of commerce, contesting FIFA’s right to unilaterally set the international match calendar and the decision to create and schedule the Club World Cup without prior consultation.