Premier League joins call for FIFA reforms after FIFA Forward
Premier League backs a joint push with LaLiga, Bundesliga and Serie A for “fundamental” change to FIFA governance.
The Premier League has joined LaLiga, the Bundesliga and Serie A in calling for “fundamental” reform to how FIFA is run, targeting president Gianni Infantino after alleging he has “actively promoted exploitative ideas”, in a joint statement from the four leagues.
The leagues argue world football’s governing body must be “transparent, objective, proportionate and inclusive”, and they say the sport can’t grow globally if its foundations are undermined. Their message lands days after Infantino proposed an external review of how FIFA operates amid a wider crisis sparked by his failed plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors.
More than process changes
The statement cites “one of the biggest abuses of power in FIFA’s history” and stresses that while football’s stakeholders ultimately forced the withdrawal of the FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme (FFE), the conditions behind FFE remain. It also references the cancelled suspension of US forward Folarin Balogun at the World Cup after US President Donald Trump asked Infantino to review the ban.
The four leagues want reforms including:
- a permanent body representing key stakeholders, with a meaningful role in decision-making
- evidence-based decision-making with independent impact assessment on major proposals
- separation between FIFA’s regulatory role and its commercial function, protected by genuinely independent ethics, finance oversight and election bodies
They add that despite calls from three confederations for Infantino to step down, he will stand for re-election in March, with opponents having until 18 November to find an alternative candidate. The letter is signed by Richard Masters, Marc Lenz, Javier Tebas and Luigi De Siervo, according to BBC Sport.
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