The Premier League has joined La Liga, the Bundesliga and Serie A in calling for “fundamental” reforms to the governance of FIFA, football’s global governing body.
In a joint statement on Friday, the four leagues said reforms were necessary to make FIFA more “transparent, objective, proportionate and inclusive.”
The leagues said they were speaking out because FIFA’s expanding activities increasingly affect football stakeholders around the world.
“Our sport cannot grow globally if its foundations are undermined,” they said.
The statement came days after FIFA President Gianni Infantino proposed an external review of the organisation’s operations amid controversy surrounding his now-withdrawn plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors.
The four leagues described the controversy as “one of the biggest abuses of power in Fifa’s history” and argued that the withdrawal of the Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme had not addressed the underlying governance concerns.
“While football’s stakeholders ultimately forced the withdrawal of the Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme, the conditions that led to FFE remain,” they said.
The leagues acknowledged Infantino’s recognition of the need for reform but said the response must go beyond procedural changes.
“The Fifa president has now acknowledged the need for reform, but it is not enough for surface-level, process changes to be explored in the aftermath of FFE – fundamental governance reform is essential to restore clear constitutional boundaries within Fifa,” the statement said.
The statement is also understood to reference the reported cancellation of the suspension of United States forward Folarin Balogun at the World Cup, following an alleged request by U.S. President Donald Trump to Infantino for the striker’s ban to be reviewed.
The leagues stressed that their concerns extended beyond Infantino personally.
“FIFA’s governance problem goes far beyond the role of one individual,” they said.
They questioned whether the FIFA president should simultaneously exercise regulatory, commercial and political powers without effective checks and balances or the agreement of affected stakeholders.
“Governance that concentrates unchecked regulatory, commercial and political power in a single office, while relegating affected stakeholders to mere advisory status, is not fit for purpose,” the leagues said.
The Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A called for a governance structure that promotes greater transparency and accountability while ensuring that football stakeholders are adequately represented in major decisions.
FIFA has been approached for comment on the statement and the allegations raised by the four leagues.
