Footnotes #11: So many headaches for FIFA and much more on the football industry
Your newsletter for insights into the football industry is back with plenty to read.
This is my starting XI this week:
1️⃣ Does FIFA have a conflict of interest?
2️⃣ The first impact of Diarra's case
3️⃣ Barcelona intentionally misreporting income
4️⃣ Benfica accused of corruption and tax fraud
5️⃣ The American passion for European football
6️⃣ The Premier League is expanding to China
7️⃣ A geopolitical approach to FIFA's deal with Lenovo
8️⃣ Ireland wants more matches in 2028
9️⃣ Who will broadcast the World Cup in Portugal?
1️⃣0️⃣ Finally, a new auction for Bundesliga TV rights
1️⃣1️⃣ Belgium TV rights tender postponed
1️⃣ Does FIFA have a conflict of interest?
Can you feel the tension in the air? The number of lawsuits or disputes with governing bodies these days is impressive.
This time, FIFPRO Europe (the International Federation of Professional Footballers), the European Leagues (representing more than 1,000 clubs in 31 countries) and Spain's LA Liga have lodged a complaint with the European Commission against FIFA, accusing the institution led by Gianni Infantino of mismanaging the international match calendar.
Next year's FIFA Club World Cup (that will have Messi) is at stake.
What exactly are they complaining about? FIFA, they argue, has a conflict of interest because it organises the competition and is also football's governing body.
"It's getting to a tipping point," said Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League. "The feedback we have from players is that there is too much football being played, and there is constant expansion."
Similarly, the president of La Liga believes that "player unions and leagues are clearly aligned in protecting national competitions and their players, who are increasingly exposed to the negative impact of a congested schedule”. Javier Tebas fears that FIFA could "damage the entire football ecosystem."
“The problem of the overloaded calendar is not caused by league competitions, but by FIFA, with its new format and duration of the tournaments, and by UEFA with the Nations League and the new UEFA club competitions with the increased number of dates and games,” added Luigi De Siervo, the CEO of Italian Serie A.
The difference, he says, “is that UEFA had a strong consultation with all the stakeholders —leagues included— and decided on a reform in the format of club competitions after a long discussion. FIFA imposed their new format and competitions without any discussion, consultation and without accepting to have any form of relationship with the other competitions' organisers."
2️⃣ The first impact of Diarra's case
These are busy days at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Let us return to the Diarra case, as FIFA tries to come to terms with an unexpected decision that many see as a game-changer in the world transfer market.
The ruling by the European Court of Justice (C-650/22) [read Footnotes #9] forced the governing body to announce a global dialogue to adapt the controversial Article 17 of the Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players and last week, FIFA took concrete steps to listen to stakeholders, inviting bodies such as the European Club Association, FIFPRO and the World Leagues Association to give their opinion and set up a platform to receive feedback from around the world until 15 November 2024 [FIFA].
3️⃣ Barcelona "intentionally misreporting income"
Half a million euros is a drop in the ocean compared to Barcelona's financial troubles, yet the Catalan club still attempted to avoid a fine from UEFA. In vain. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in favour of UEFA, confirming that Barcelona had improperly declared profits related to TV rights in 2022 and had been “intentionally misreporting income.”
4️⃣ Benfica accused of corruption and tax fraud
Benfica denies any wrongdoing and says the charges are "unfounded" but the Portuguese prosecutors believe that between 2016 and 2019, Benfica and Vitória de Setubal simulated buying and selling players, which allowed the “Eagles” to inject cash into the struggling club (now relegated to the third tier).
If found guilty, both clubs risk a ban from their competitions. Prosecutors are asking for "six months to three years".
Rui Costa, the president of Benfica—and a member of the Benfica board at the time—was cleared of all charges. That was not the case for Luís Filipe Vieira, the former president who led the club for almost two decades.
There is no date for a trial yet.
Read more on SportBusiness or Observador [in Portuguese]
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5️⃣ The American passion for European football
North American shareholders own 27 clubs already in the Big 5 leagues. That includes 10 in the Premier League (it will be 11 if Friedkin succeeds in buying Everton) and nine in Italy's Serie A (one of them Canadian). On the other hand, in the German Bundesliga, only RB Leipzig is under foreign control - and it is not American.
In Football Benchmark, journalist Marco Iaria examines the varying degrees of American capital involvement across Europe’s five major football leagues.
Also worth a read (it takes longer) is the essay by researchers Kieran Maguire and Christina Philippou in The Conversation: "Why America is buying up the Premier League - and what it means for the future of 'soccer'".
6️⃣ The Premier League is expanding to China
The Premier League has announced it opened an international office in Beijing “to support the continued growth of the League and its clubs in China” [Premier League]. This office “will help create more opportunities for fans in China to engage with the League and clubs” and “enable the League to collaborate with local football authorities and partners to promote the growth of the game at all levels”, the Premier League explained.
7️⃣ A geopolitical approach to FIFA's deal with Lenovo
The Chinese brand Lenovo was named Official FIFA Technology Partner, covering the Men’s World Cup in two years and the Women’s World Cup in 2027 [FIFA].
And what is this partnership deal telling us about global power shifts? Professor Simon Chadwick reminds us that most sponsors of the Euro this summer “were neither European nor American, with the biggest group coming from China (Hisense, Vivo, BYD, Ali Express and Ali Pay)”.
He also notes that “if sport sponsorships really are an effective way of engaging audiences across the world, then the likes of Lenovo’s FIFA deal again puts Chinese industry in pole position as the country targets continuing economic growth”.
You can read his article in Geosport.
8️⃣ Ireland wants more matches in 2028
Rebuilding the Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Northern Ireland would be prohibitively expensive. Estimated at £180 million (€216 million) when Britain federations and Ireland won the Euro 2028 bid in October last year, the cost has since risen to potentially more than £400 million (€480 million). As a result, the British government dropped the five matches in Belfast.
Where will they go? Ireland's neighbours, who already host six matches at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, have told UEFA they want to host more [Read details on the BBC].
9️⃣ Who will broadcast the World Cup in Portugal?
Fifa's bidding process for media rights in Portugal for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is now open.
According to SportBusiness, broadcasters have about a month, until 19 November, to submit proposals for a tournament featuring 48 teams instead of 32. That is 40 more matches than previous editions.
Public broadcaster RTP held the media rights in the country for the last two tournaments - Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 - through the European Broadcasting Union and then sublicensed them to other Portuguese broadcasters.
Fifa has also launched tenders in Ireland, Cambodia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
1️⃣0️⃣ Finally, a new auction for Bundesliga TV rights
It hasn't been easy since DAZN filed a complaint in April.
The German Football League (DFL), which is attempting to sell the media rights for the new cycle (2025-26 to 2028-29), was ordered by the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS) in September to re-tender 196 matches because the DFL had breached competition law. DAZN emerged victorious.
However, the Bundesliga is now back on track, with the DFL announcing that it will resume proceedings on 25 November.
The German league currently earns €1.1 billion a year from domestic rights.
You can read more on SportBusiness.
1️⃣1️⃣ Belgium TV rights tender postponed
The Pro League domestic media rights tender covering the next five years (2025-26 to 2029-30) has a new deadline.
The process started on 9 September with a deadline of 16 October, but the Belgium league decided to extend it to 31 October "at the request of certain market participants."
According to SportBusiness, we should expect a decision on 6 November.
The Belgian league receives €103 million ($111.4 million) per season in a five-year package from the previous cycle.
Thank you for reading!
Vítor Rodrigues Oliveira