Europe’s top leagues call for FIFA reform amid World Cup sell-off fallout

FIFA president Gianni Infantino pledged a "culture of dialogue" on Thursday as Europe's most powerful leagues added their voices to a growing chorus demanding governance reform at world soccer's governing body, two months after his secretive plan to sell stakes in the World Cup's commercial rights provoked the sport's deepest crisis in a decade.

Top Leagues Join the Fray

The Premier League, along with the top leagues from Spain, Italy, and Germany, issued a joint statement on Friday accusing FIFA of "one of the biggest abuses of power in FIFA's history" and calling for structural reform ahead of the March 2027 presidential election. While the leagues stopped short of joining UEFA in explicitly calling for Infantino to resign, they accused the FIFA president of promoting "exploitative ideas rather than safeguarding against them" and condemned the governing body's "relentless expansionism".ctpost

"FIFA's governance problem goes far beyond the role of one individual," the leagues said. "The wider question is whether FIFA's president should simultaneously wield such regulatory, commercial and political power without effective checks and balances".ctpost

A 'Hot-Cold War' Looms

Infantino, writing from Jeddah on Instagram, said he was committed to openness and proposed that the FIFA Council commission an independent external review of FIFA's governance at an Oct. 15 meeting in Zurich. "There must be a culture of dialogue, of listening to each other and respecting one another," he wrote. "This is not about generating positive headlines, it is about doing what is right for the game".mymotherlode

But senior figures in world soccer told Reuters the crisis is shifting from a question of succession toward a prolonged struggle over how much power Infantino can exercise. One senior executive described a scenario in which clubs fight FIFA over the Club World Cup, player representatives challenge the calendar, and confederations contest competition expansions — amounting to "a permanent hot-cold war where all the stakeholders just fight every issue".reuters

Infantino Digs In

Despite the backlash, Infantino plans to stand for a final term through 2031, with the candidate deadline set for Nov. 18. A national association president told Reuters that Infantino's opponents "missed their best opportunity when the backlash was at its peak" and that he is now rebuilding support among the 211 member federations ahead of the March vote.reuters+2

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin offered a pointed assessment on Wednesday: "The project that shattered the unity of world football may be abolished, but the trust it broke has not returned. Football is not for sale".reuters