Europe's top four leagues call for FIFA governance reform... Criticism of President Infantino

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Young-ho = The four major European leagues, including the English professional soccer Premier League (EPL), have called for reform of FIFA's governance structure in relation to the controversy over FIFA President Gianni Infantino's push for 'World Cup privatization'.

The Associated Press reported on the 26th (Korean time), "The four major European leagues, including the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, and German Bundesliga, issued a joint statement calling for major organizational and governance reforms in FIFA."

The four major European leagues are members of the 'Confederation of European Leagues', and they submitted an official complaint to the European Commission (EC) in Brussels in 2023 about FIFA's abusive governance standards.

The four major leagues said in a statement, "The world of soccer has suffered from one of the most serious abuses of power in FIFA history," and criticized, "Rather than preventing the abuse of power, the FIFA president actively promoted it as an exploitative idea."

“In recent years, the long-standing foundations of football have been threatened by fundamental governance issues,” he said. “Now is the time to decide not only who will lead FIFA, but also how FIFA should be run.”

Previously, Chairman Infantino attempted to sell the World Cup commercial rights by establishing a $20 billion (approximately 27 trillion won) 'FIFA Forward Enterprise' with private investors in July, but withdrew the plan due to strong opposition from the soccer community.

The four major European leagues raised their voices, saying, "FIFA's problems go beyond the role of one individual," and "we must ask whether it is appropriate for the FIFA president to monopolize regulatory, commercial, and political power at the same time without any real checks and balances."

President Infantino, who is celebrating his 10th year in office this year, is facing his greatest political crisis due to this incident.

However, FIFA said that he plans to run in the presidential election to be held next year and continue his term until 2031.

The deadline to register candidates for the next FIFA presidential election is November 18, and the final vote is scheduled to be held in Morocco next year.