Soccer player unions and leagues in Europe go to Brussels with latest legal challenge against FIFA
Spain's Lamine Yamal, left, and Denmark's Victor Kristiansen battle for the ball during the UEFA Nations League group 4 soccer match between Spain and Denmark in Murcia, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jose Breton]
In a busy soccer season when players have talked of going on strike, their union has teamed up with domestic leagues to go to the European Union with a formal complaint against FIFA. They’re making a long-promised challenge about how FIFA adds new and bigger men’s competitions. FIFA will launch a 32-team Club World Cup in the United States in June and the 2026 World Cup will have 48 teams instead of 32. It’s the latest soccer dispute playing out in a legal arena. FIFA has been pressured by recent cases on the Super League, player agent regulations and transfer market.
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Soccer player Kevin De Bruyne is shown on a large screen, as panel members, from left to right, NISO executive president Kristoffer Vatshaug, EPL director of international football relations, EU affairs Mathieu Moreuil, FIFPRO Europe president David Terrier, LaLiga president Javier Tebas and AIC resident Umberto Calcagno listen during a media conference on protecting player health and safeguarding the sustainability of national leagues at the Residence Palace in Brussels, on Monday, Oct. 14, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
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Gianni Infantino appears during the Global Citizen Festival on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at Central Park in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
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