According to FIFA critics, the dispute over the football calendar should also be resolved at EU level. The German Football League is calling for a joint solution.
The German Football League wants to “mediate and cooperate” in the dispute over the increasingly staggered football calendar. The health of the players “and the protection of the national leagues as the heart of football are important common concerns,” said DFL managing director Marc Lenz when asked by the German Press Agency. As a member of the European Leagues, the DFL is supporting their complaint at EU level against FIFA against “the unilateral determination of the international match calendar.”
The leagues’ association, together with the players’ union Fifpro, announced on Tuesday that they would take action against the world association at the EU Commission in Brussels. The background to this is the new FIFA Club World Cup next year, which will be held for the first time with 32 teams over four weeks. Critics complain that the more matches are putting pressure on the players, the more work they do.
Joint solution with FIFA?
“In the future, it is important to establish a transparent and participatory process under the FIFA umbrella,” said Lenz. “The DFL will act as a mediator and cooperate – because in the future there will need to be good cooperation between the world association and national leagues.”
The EU Commission did not initially comment on the announcement of the complaint. FIFA firmly rejected the allegations. “The current calendar was unanimously approved by the FIFA Council, which is made up of representatives from all continents, including Europe, after a comprehensive and extensive consultation in which Fifpro and league bodies also participated,” it said in a reaction.
More competitive matches in the Champions League
The number of possible competitive matches in professional football will increase again for the new 2024/25 season. In the Champions League of the European Football Union UEFA, there are two additional group matches and optionally two additional matches in the knockout phase. There is also the Club World Cup, in which FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are taking part from Germany. Until now, the annual tournament had only been held with seven teams. The new event, planned every four years, replaces the previous Confederations Cup.
Source: Stern
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