Player unions have lodged a legal claim against Fifa over the expanded Club World Cup – and have hired the lawyer who won the Bosman ruling to take the case to the European Court of Justice.
England’s PFA and their French counterparts are challenging Fifa’s decision to turn the Club World Cup into a 32-team quadrennial tournament, starting next summer in the US, when footballers would otherwise have time off.
Supported by international players’ union Fifpro Europe, they argue that the move was taken unilaterally by Fifa, violates the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and also potentially infringes EU competition law.
They have instructed the law firm of Jean-Louis Dupont, who won the 1995 Bosman ruling which transformed football’s transfer market and has acted in several other landmark cases relating to sport and the EU.
It is the latest blow to Fifa’s plans to transform the Club World Cup from a seven-team competition held during the European season that struggles to generate interest into a money-spinning spectacular.
The Premier League and other competitions say they oppose the plans, which have been criticised for adding to player workload. Fifpro says the Club World Cup will add six weeks of additional work for the players involved.
“The role of Fifpro Europe and its members is not to favour or oppose one competition over another. However, in the wider context of the global football calendar, the new Fifa Club World Cup is seen by players and unions as representing a tipping point,” it said.
“For the players most in demand for both club matches and national team competitions, the right to a guaranteed annual break has become virtually non-existent, with the Fifa Club World Cup 2025 being held during the only period of the year theoretically available to players to take such breaks.”
This week Real Madrid were forced to deny that they would boycott the new-look tournament after manager Carlo Ancelotti was quoted as saying the Spanish club and others would refuse to take part because Fifa was not paying them enough.
Fifa does have the backing of the influential European Club Association, which represents more than 200 leading teams. It agreed to support the Club World Cup expansion after Fifa made concessions over payments to non-competing teams.
Industry sources say Fifa’s slow progress with planning the event has left it open to criticism and challenge. With a year to go it has not announced a broadcast partner or sponsors and it is understood that some venue agreements have not been finalised.