FIFPRO battles with FIFA over player workload

FIFPro, which describes itself as, “working every day on behalf of more than 66,000 men's and women's players, spread across our affiliated national player associations,” has sued FIFA over claims football’s governing body has “overloaded” players with fixture congestion.

The legal action comes from FIFPRO’s European branch, with players and representatives, “pointing out the lack of rest and the excess of matches and workload on players,” per Irene Guevara for El Pais.

Legal proceedings were lodged on Thursday 13th June, and are centered around FIFA’s decision to, “unilaterally establish the international match calendar.”

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Many of FIFPRO’s complaints arose following FIFA’s decision to create a 32-team Club World Cup, set to take place next summer in the United States.

FIFPRO Europe president David Terrier released a statement claiming, “all attempts at dialogue have failed,” meaning, “it is now up to us to ensure full respect for the fundamental rights of players by bringing the matter before the European courts.”

Per BeIN Sports, FIFPRO threatened legal action last year following the announcement of the tournament, stating FIFA had shown, “a lack of consideration for the mental and physical health of players, as well as a disregard for their personal and family lives.”

Sticking to their word, FIFPRO has now officially launched their legal action at the Brussels Court of Commerce, with Irene Guevara for El Pais reporting the players’ union is pointing to “articles 5, 15, 28 and 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which prohibit forced or compulsory labor”.

Guevara reports these clauses also include the “freedom of work, the right to negotiate and the right to an annual period of paid vacation.”

Many within football have spoken out against the Club World Cup, but few as powerful as Carlo Ancelotti, who suggested the tournament is “going to kill the players,” per Relevo.

Ancelotti was firm in his stance, claiming his Madrid side, and possibly many others would boycott the tournament, telling Il Giornale, “Players and clubs will not participate in that tournament… Like us, several clubs will decline the invitation”. However, shortly after, Real Madrid issued a statement saying that the club will participate in the tournament, and Ancelotti said that his words had been misquoted.

For many star players, the chances for an extended break are getting smaller and smaller, with Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri claiming, “I need to rest,” in April having played 4,327 minutes for his club last season, per Transfermarkt.

Diego Torres, also writing for El Pais, released a report in May 2024 based on a FIFPRO survey in which 54% of participants claimed to have played injured. The survey also revealed 72% of players were in favour of a guaranteed rest period, something that wouldn’t be possible with the new Club World Cup.

La Liga president Javier Tebas weighed in, claiming, “We have a joint problem and for the first time we are going to try to face it together,” alluding to the legal proceedings being filed.

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