FIFA faces complaint over health risks to footballers amid packed calendar
Al Jazeera
European Leagues and FIFPRO to lodge antitrust complaint against FIFA as reports suggest players face risk of burnouts.
The consortium of European football leagues and European footballers’ representative body FIFPRO Europe will file a joint complaint about FIFA’s international match calendar and risks to players’ health to the European Union’s antitrust regulators on Monday.
European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe announced their decision to lodge the complaint on Thursday, two weeks after Europe’s top court ruled that the world football governing body’s player transfer rules breach EU laws following a challenge by French former player Lassana Diarra.
The complaint also underlined a growing tendency by disgruntled athletes and sports organisations to turn to the EU antitrust enforcer to help secure a level playing field and chip away at the power of governing bodies.
European Leagues and FIFPRO’s grievance centres on the international match calendar – which they say has become unsustainable for national leagues and a health risk for players, arguing FIFA was abusing its market power.
FIFA in turn has said the current calendar was unanimously approved by its council after a comprehensive consultation, which included FIFPRO and league bodies.
