Europe's top leagues unite to demand FIFA reform — SkimNews
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- The Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga and Serie A issued a joint statement on September 25, 2026, denouncing FIFA president Gianni Infantino's 'exploitative ideas' and demanding fundamental governance reform ahead of the March 2027 presidential election.
- The leagues outlined three core reforms: inclusion of stakeholders (national associations, leagues, clubs and players) in FIFA decision-making, evidence-based decisions backed by published explanations, and separation of FIFA's commercial operations from its regulatory role.
- The statement cited the abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme, which Infantino was forced to scrap this summer after UEFA pursued legal action, arguing the 'conditions that led to FFE remain.'
- The leagues invoked FIFA's decision to allow Folarin Balogun to play against Belgium at the World Cup despite a prior red card, noting US President Donald Trump had spoken to Infantino about the USA striker's ban before it was suspended for one year.
- Infantino told FIFA members earlier in the week he was open to an independent external review of the FFE plan and that his responsibilities were 'larger than any individual proposal or disagreement.'
- The letter was signed by Premier League CEO Richard Masters, Bundesliga CEO Marc Lenz, LaLiga president Javier Tebas and Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo, acting as founding members of European Leagues and the World Leagues Association and urging presidential candidates to publish reform programmes.
Why it matters: With Europe's four wealthiest domestic leagues publicly uniting to demand structural reform tied to the March 2027 presidential election, Infantino faces the most coordinated league-level challenge of his tenure — and the leagues explicitly used the Balogun case, in which Trump reportedly lobbied Infantino, as proof that FIFA's disciplinary process lacks insulation from political interference.
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