FIFPro Europe, the association of European footballer unions, has sued FIFA over its unilateral decisions concerning the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will be held in the US. According to the complainants, this 21st edition twice adds to the workload – first in its expansion to 32 teams and then in its scheduling for what is normally the off-season.
FIFPro is supporting the UK’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and France’s National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) in their petition to compel the Commercial Court of Brussels to transfer the lawsuit to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), to which they wish to submit four questions with respect to the EU’s Charter of Rights and the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.
- Does the off-season scheduling violate labor rights?
- Does the unilateral nature of FIFA’s decisions violate the right to collective negotiation?
- Does the imposed additional workload violate the right to healthy working conditions?
- Do FIFA’s unilateral decisions qualify as restrictions on competition?
FIFPro’s declaration (in French) is available online.
