Premier League joins La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A in demanding fundamental Fifa reform

The Premier League has stepped forward alongside three of Europe's other heavyweight competitions to demand a root-and-branch overhaul of how Fifa is run. In a joint statement with Spain's La Liga, Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A, the English top flight accuses president Gianni Infantino of actively promoting exploitative ideas and insists the world governing body must become transparent, objective, proportionate and inclusive.

• The Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A have issued a joint statement against Fifa's management.
• They accuse Gianni Infantino of promoting exploitative ideas and concentrating too much power.
• The leagues want Fifa's regulatory and commercial functions separated and a permanent stakeholder body created.
• The move follows the collapse of the Fifa Forward Enterprise plan, labelled one of the biggest abuses of power in the body's history.
• The four competitions want presidential candidates to back their proposals before March's election.

Why Europe's biggest leagues are taking on Fifa now

The decision by the four competitions to speak out does not come out of nowhere. It arrives days after Infantino proposed an external review of Fifa's operations amid the ongoing crisis over his failed plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors. That scheme, known as Fifa Forward Enterprise, sparked a global outcry and was eventually withdrawn under pressure from football's stakeholders.

The leagues pull no punches: they describe the episode as one of the biggest abuses of power in Fifa's history. And while acknowledging that stakeholders ultimately forced the withdrawal of the scheme, they warn that the conditions which allowed it to emerge remain in place. That is why they argue surface-level changes are not enough and a deep restructuring of the governing body's framework is essential.

The three concrete demands from the Premier League and its allies

The statement signed by Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, Marc Lenz, CEO of the Bundesliga, Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, and Luigi De Siervo, CEO of Serie A, goes beyond complaint. It sets out a package of reforms built on three clear pillars.

The first calls for a permanent body representing key stakeholders from men's and women's football, including leagues, clubs and players, with a meaningful role in decision-making. The second demands that any major proposal be subject to an independent assessment evaluating its impact on all affected parties, ensuring decisions are evidence-based. The third seeks a clear separation between Fifa's regulatory role and its commercial function.

On that final point, the leagues want robust institutional safeguards to preserve trust, legitimacy and accountability. They are calling for ethics, financial oversight and electoral bodies that are genuinely independent of the Fifa administration and presidency.

The Balogun case and the wider issue of political interference

One allusion in the statement stands out. The leagues demand confidence that individual disciplinary matters remain clearly insulated from political interference. It is a direct reference to the cancelled suspension of United States forward Folarin Balogun at the 2026 World Cup, after Donald Trump called Infantino asking for the striker's ban to be reviewed.

The affair, widely discussed during the tournament hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, serves the leagues to illustrate what they see as a much wider problem. Their argument is that Fifa's governance problem goes far beyond one individual and centres on the concentration of regulatory, commercial and political power in a single figure without effective checks and balances.

The European legal complaint that set the stage

This is not the first time Europe's top leagues have pushed back against Fifa. Two years ago, the continent's leading competitions joined forces with players' union Fifpro to file a legal complaint with the European Commission over what they claimed was an abuse of dominance related to the expansion of the international fixture calendar and an alleged lack of consultation.

Fifa denied the accusations at the time and accused some leagues of hypocrisy and acting without consideration for the rest of the world. Now the four competitions link that legal action directly to the governance framework they are criticising: they argue it stems from a flawed system in which Fifa can use its regulatory authority to pursue its own commercial objectives without accounting for the impact on the sustainability of national competitions.

March's Fifa presidential election in the spotlight

The electoral calendar adds urgency to the standoff. Infantino has confirmed he will stand for re-election in March, despite three confederations calling for him to step down. Opponents have until 18 November to put forward an alternative candidate.

The four leagues want to use that window to shape the debate. They are calling on all candidates to support their proposals and sum it up plainly: the moment has come to decide not only who will lead Fifa, but how Fifa should be led. They also claim a crucial role for leagues in that process, demanding that the voice of every competition be heard.

We understand how Fifa's relentless expansionism affects everyone. Our sport cannot grow globally if its foundations are undermined.

Frequently asked questions about the Fifa reform push