- Meeting held at the start of the 2026-27 club season
- Focus remains on governance at FIFA and ongoing efforts to address challenges facing domestic leagues
- European Leagues to continue constructive engagement with UEFA and other key stakeholders across a range of key matters
Zurich, 17 September – The Board of European Leagues met today in Zurich to address a number of important matters impacting European domestic football and to review progress and next steps in relation to its strategic priorities.
Focus remains on addressing challenges facing domestic leagues
The Board continues to focus on challenges affecting the long-term well-being of European Leagues members, including calendar scheduling, the growing polarisation of revenues and player talent, and their impact on competitive balance. Ensuring an appropriate balance between the domestic and international game remains central to addressing these challenges.
In this context, the Board reviewed the detailed and extensive work undertaken by a dedicated taskforce to assess the interconnection between UEFA Club Competitions (UCCs) and domestic leagues, as well as the proposals it has developed to evolve revenue distribution at European level to ensure greater balance.
These proposals will form the basis for European Leagues’ open and constructive engagement with UEFA and other stakeholders as the formal discussions on the future UCC redistribution model get underway with the aim of shaping outcomes that deliver on the shared objective of supporting the sustainable development of European football.
Board reiterates call for meaningful reform of FIFA governance
The Board reiterated its view that the practices surrounding the proposed sale of equity in FIFA Competitions to private investors raises significant concerns about FIFA’s governance and decision-making processes. These concerns highlight the need for meaningful reform of FIFA’s governance model, including through enhanced stakeholder input and greater transparency around key decision-making relating to all aspects of football.
In this regard, the Board was provided with a detailed update on the recent decision to expand European Leagues’ complaint lodged with the European Commission relating to FIFA’s practices in setting the International Match Calendar to also cover the Women’s International Match Calendar.
The complaint raises concerns that FIFA’s practices are conflicted and abusive placing them in direct violation of EU competition law. Efforts remain ongoing to encourage the European Commission to open a case against FIFA.
Board welcomes recent addition of Women’s Leagues as efforts are enhanced around the sustainable development of women’s domestic football
The Board was updated on the recent kick-off meeting of the European Leagues Women’s League Platform, at which members adopted the Platform’s organisational regulations and confirmed its leadership.
The Platform, which currently includes full members from 14 women’s professional leagues, was established to provide a forum for leagues to address common challenges, share expertise and consider key issues as efforts continue to shape the sustainable future of women’s domestic football.
As a next step, the Platform will appoint a Director to represent its members on the European Leagues Board.
Business development
Board Members were updated on the outcome of recent meetings of the Task Force on Business, which seeks to define the future direction of European Leagues’ commercial and business activities. Among the various topics presented, the issues of sports data was of particular relevance. As competition organisers, leagues are uniquely positioned to take a proactive and leading role, not only in promoting and protecting official and licensed data, but also in shaping and developing the football data ecosystem as a whole.
EU update / institutional developments
Finally, an update was provided on recent EU-related and other institutional developments of note. These include:
- Recent high-level meetings held in Brussels with EU Sport Commissioner Glenn Micallef to address challenges and opportunities facing European football, and with European Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen to discuss ongoing efforts to combat online piracy of live sport.
- Continued work within the EU Social Dialogue including efforts aimed at developing a framework to address player occupational health and safety relating to workloads which would act as an important element in defining the future of the international match calendar.
- The meeting of the European Leagues’ Stadia Safety and Security Task Force held in Madrid on 1 September and ongoing work related to the Council of Europe’s Saint-Denis Convention.
- A joint workshop held in Nyon on 16-17 September, co-organised by UEFA and European Leagues aimed at helping leagues further embed sustainability into the management of domestic competitions.