The Premier League and three of its top European counterparts will on Friday issue a joint call for urgent governance reform at FIFA amid the crisis engulfing its president, Gianni Infantino.
Sky News can reveal that English football’s top flight and the top domestic leagues in Germany, Italy and Spain will publish a collective statement demanding greater consultation on key issues such as the global football calendar.
The statement was still in the process of being formally agreed between the quartet of domestic leagues on Thursday afternoon and it was unclear whether it would specifically call for Infantino to stand down.
One football insider said: “The Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A are going to issue a joint statement insisting that FIFA must reform to have more independent oversight and give stakeholders, including leagues, a meaningful role in decision-making.”
The source said it followed a legal complaint filed nearly two years ago by the European Leagues Association – including the quartet behind Friday’s planned statement – to the EU about FIFA’s handling of the International Match Calendar.
The Premier League, along with others in Europe, have been at loggerheads with FIFA for some time over so-called ‘calendar creep’, with the potential for more frequent Club World Cups and expanded national team competitions causing alarm among the game’s most important domestic leagues.
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Earlier this week, Sky News reported that Infantino, who is said to be increasingly confident about surviving in his job when he comes up for re-election next year, had written to football chiefs across the globe saying he was open to talks about reforming the organisation.
Infantino has been lambasted by football industry executives and associations over his proposal to sell a 20 per cent stake in FIFA’s commercial rights, including the World Cup, to private investors – including Joshua Kushner, brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal was abandoned in July after a maelstrom of global opposition and threats to boycott tournaments organised by FIFA.
UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation, and CONCACAF – which represents countries in North and Central America and the Caribbean – called for changes to FIFA’s leadership.
In a letter seen by Sky News this week, Infantino wrote to the heads of all its 211 member nations and his FIFA Council, saying he will ask the council whether it wants to launch an “independent external review of FIFA’s current governance framework for major strategic initiatives and recommend potential improvements”.
In the note, he also said he would offer to hold talks with confederations, member associations and other stakeholders on strengthening FIFA’s decision-making.
The proposals would examine who has a say in major initiatives, including the respective roles of the president, bureau, council and congress, and how to improve transparency and accountability.
Promising not to pre-judge discussions, he said proposals could be discussed when the council meets next month.
His responsibility, he said, is to serve “all 211 member associations fairly, regardless of their position on any individual matter,” adding that “strong institutions do not wait for their systems to fail before considering how they can be improved”.
But there was no mention of reviewing his position. Instead, the letter affirmed his intention to remain FIFA president, arguing his responsibilities are “larger than any individual proposal or disagreement”.
The Premier League declined to comment on Thursday.
