European member unions of Fifpro, the association that represents footballers across the globe have started legal action against FIFA for unilaterally expanding the format of the men’s Club World Cup.
England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and its French counterpart are championing the cause and announced on Thursday that they have submitted a legal claim with the Brussels Court of Commerce.
FIFA expanded the current 7 club format to 32 teams and changing the calendar to the summer of 2025 with the United States as the host country.
Fifpro said it was “challenging the legality of FIFA’s decisions to unilaterally set the international match calendar and, in particular, the decision to create and schedule the Fifa Club World Cup 2025”.
The PFA stressed that it was seeking to enforce the legal rights of players to take guaranteed and protected breaks, adding that it if the event goes ahead, there will be no breaks before the next season begins.
Its chief executive, Maheta Molango, said: “This is an important moment for players and for their rights as employees. Everyone across football knows that the fixture calendar is broken to the point that it has now become unworkable.”
FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, dismissed the prospect of a legal row over event as a “futile debate”, saying that even with the expanded Club World Cup, FIFA organised around 1% of the games of the top clubs in the world and that, the miniature percentile of the matches played is what is financing football globally.