Football’s four wealthiest leagues went public on Friday with a joint call for a fundamental redesign of how FIFA is run, framing the world governing body’s current model as a concentration of power that “is not fit for purpose”.
The statement, headed “To Unify the Game, FIFA Must Reform,” was issued by the Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s LaLiga and Italy’s Serie A. It calls on the next FIFA president, whoever that is, to convene an independently chaired governance convention inside their first 100 days and to publish its conclusions within six months.
“Football’s longstanding foundations have, in recent years, been threatened by a fundamental governance problem,” the leagues wrote, accusing FIFA of pursuing “exploitative ideas rather than safeguarding against them”.
The three demands
The leagues want three structural changes written into any reform: a permanent decision-making body inside FIFA that includes national associations, leagues, clubs and players from both the men’s and women’s game; a rule that the reasoning behind major decisions must be published before they are taken; and a separation of FIFA’s regulatory role from its commercial operations.
They also want the neutral use of FIFA’s financial, legal, communications and marketing resources, an implicit reference to the president’s office. “FIFA’s governance problem goes far beyond the role of one individual,” the four leagues said.
Why the pressure has escalated now
The joint statement follows the collapse of the FIFA Forward Enterprise project, a plan to sell private stakes in FIFA’s World Cup commercial operations that leaked in July and was withdrawn after a broad backlash from confederations, leagues and players’ unions.
UEFA has escalated further. Its lawyers filed papers in late August alleging “criminal mismanagement” and accusing Gianni Infantino and a “small circle” around him of pushing the sale through an emergency meeting where executives were given hours to sign off on a plan they had not seen before. UEFA has also filed in a Florida court to obtain documents held by FIFA-operated entities set up to deliver the 2026 World Cup.
Facing that pressure, Infantino sent a letter to all 211 member associations on Monday offering an “external, independent assessment” of FIFA’s governance framework, to be discussed when the FIFA Council meets on 15 October. The four leagues want more than that: they want the convention independently chaired, mandated to report publicly, and structurally binding on the next presidency.
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Infantino stands unopposed heading into March
FIFA’s presidential election is scheduled for March, with the deadline for candidate declarations on 18 November. Infantino is currently the only declared candidate. Canadian Victor Montagliani, the CONCACAF president, is the most frequently named potential challenger, but no rival has formally entered.
That timing matters for the 100-day demand. Under the leagues’ framework, the clock only starts when the next presidency begins. If Infantino is re-elected, he would be the one required to convene the convention that his own tenure has become the case study for. Confederations do not control how their member associations vote; each of FIFA’s 211 members casts its own ballot.
Infantino responded briefly on the day the joint statement was published.
“We have a council meeting next month, so we will continue to have dialogue on these important matters,” he said.
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“There must be a culture of dialogue, of listening to each other and respecting each other.”
The FIFA Council meets in Zurich on 15 October.
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