FIFA has been warned of a threatened mass revolt and legal action by the world’s footballers and leagues over its new men’s Club World Cup amid welfare concerns.
A letter has been sent by global players’ union FIFPRO and the World Leagues Forum to FIFA president Gianni Infantino demanding the 32-team competition is not played as planned in June and July next year.
Chelsea and Manchester City have qualified for the event, lined up for the United States as part of Mr Infantino’s expansion of FIFA competitions. The union fears this has congested the calendar and endangered the health of players.
Sky News revealed in December concerns from players in England that they are being asked to play too many games with a threat of legal action against football authorities.
Image: Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez. Both teams have already qualified for the Club World Cup. Pic: Reuters
That has now been stepped up to the global level ahead of key FIFA meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, next week.
FIFPRO Acting General Secretary Stephane Burchkalter and WLA counterpart Jerome Perlemuter wrote to Mr Infantino last week to warn legal advice has been commissioned ahead of potential action against FIFA to force them to resolve concerns.
In a letter obtained by Sky News, they wrote: “We shall be compelled to advise our members on the options available to them, both individually and collectively, to proactively safeguard their interests.”
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FIFA, the governing body for world football, has also expanded the World Cup for national teams – growing from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 edition in North America.
The FIFPRO and WLF letter added: “FIFA has continually and consistently made unilateral decisions that benefit its own competitions and commercial interests, while negatively affecting national leagues and players.
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“Over a significant period, FIFA has ignored repeated attempts by leagues and unions to engage on this issue.
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Analysis: ‘Packed’ football calendar
They added: “As a result of FIFA’s recent strategy of expanding its own competitions, the calendar is now beyond saturation, to the point that national leagues are unable to properly organise their competitions, resulting in economic harm, whereas players are being pushed beyond their limits, with significant injury risks and impacts on their welfare and fundamental rights.
“Leagues and players cannot simply be expected to ‘adapt’ to FIFA’s decisions, which are driven by FIFA’s business strategy.
“We have reached the point where this situation must immediately be addressed both from a procedural and substantive perspective.”
The Club World Cup is set to be staged every four years, replacing the little-regarded annual seven-team event that City won the final version of in December.
After a three-team group stage, there will be another four matches up to the final.
The competition is taking the quadrennial slot used up to 2017 for the now-defunct, eight-country Confederations Cup that served as a World Cup test event.
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Image: Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Image: Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
Image: The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
Image: The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.