The Board of Directors of the European Leagues (formerly EPFL) gathered today in St Petersburg hosted by the Russian Football Premier League (RFPL).
On the occasion, the Leagues stressed their firm opposition to the recent proposal of FIFA to introduce two brand new competitions, namely a revamped FIFA Club World Cup and a new FIFA Nations League.
The President of the European Leagues Lars-Christer Olsson stated: “This process reminds me of the way the “old FIFA” acted which I thought we had left behind. What we have experienced is a clear lack of consultation and transparency, and an intentional manipulation of the decision making structure by FIFA in presenting these proposals. To present a long-term 12 year plan with lots of uncertainty and a lack of information sounds, to me, like a ‘can of worms’.”
The European Leagues are not ready to make any changes and concessions related to their domestic competitions regarding the calendar which is already very congested.
In addition, the leagues are concerned with the potential distribution of additional financial resources to a small group of big clubs which could further increase the financial and sporting gap between clubs in Europe and further destroy competitive balance in domestic competitions.
Within this context the European Leagues call on the World League Forum and all European football stakeholders, in particular UEFA, ECA and FIFPro, to join forces and take a firm position on occasion of the upcoming meeting of the Professional Football Strategy Council on the 16th of May so to firmly oppose and together stop this unilateral initiative from FIFA and the process which lacks of transparency and a proper consultation with the stakeholders.
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