The president of the Spanish soccer league, Javier Tebas, today asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to remove the 2025 Club World Cup from the international calendar “because it is not necessary for players and clubs”.
Tebas considered that the new format of the Club World Cup, in which Benfica and FC Porto will take part, is not good, “not even for FIFA”, arguing that extending the competition to 32 teams “only serves to cause disorganization”.
“You know that you don't have the sponsorship you had anticipated and that the leagues and the players' union don't want this World Cup. Remove it [from the calendar] now,” demanded Tebas, who announced the body's return to the Association of European Leagues, from which it had withdrawn in March 2023 in protest at its inaction against FIFA rules.
The La Liga president's announcement comes a day after the association, chaired by Portuguese Pedro Proença, lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission against FIFA, together with the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPRO), over the overloaded international calendar.
The two organizations accuse FIFA of “abuse of a dominant position” and the complaint filed in Brussels focuses directly on the expansion of international competitions, including the 2026 World Cup and the 2025 Club World Cup.
“The complaint explains how FIFA's imposition of decisions on the international calendar constitutes an abuse of a dominant position and violates the laws of the European Union [EU],” the statement said, warning of the ‘conflict of interest’ between the functions of the sport's regulatory body and the organizer of competitions.
The association led by the president of the Portuguese Professional Football League and the footballers' representative recall the decisions of the European courts in the cases of the Super League and former French international Lassana Diarra, which go against FIFA's claims.
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