According to Martyn Ziegler, a reporter for The Times, the European Leagues organization stated that FIFA President's decision to abandon the previously proposed FFE plan, which aimed to sell FIFA's commercial and event-related asset rights, was the only reasonable outcome given the reactions from various football stakeholders.

However, the strong opposition to this dangerous idea and the opaque decision-making process behind it have also raised serious questions about FIFA's governance, internal culture, and decision-making mechanisms.

In this sense, we cannot ignore the fact that on Thursday, July 30, amid the huge controversy surrounding the FFE project, FIFA shared a "research briefing" with its member associations, hoping to promote the plan to expand the men's FIFA World Cup to 64 teams by 2030.

Like the abandoned FFE project, this new proposal also involves an unrealistic assessment timeline (only 4 weeks) and completely disregards consultation with the leagues, clubs, and players whose planning and livelihoods would be most affected.

We must be clear: FIFA cannot continue to unilaterally make destructive decisions that disregard the interests of leagues, clubs, players, and fans. It is the long-term efforts and contributions of these groups that have driven the increase in the value of international football events.

More urgently than ever, FIFA needs governance reform to ensure that all relevant stakeholders are formally involved in decisions that affect the future development of football.

The recent series of events once again highlights the systemic issues that led the European Leagues organization to formally file a complaint with the European Commission in October 2024. The complaint concerns the conflict of interest inherent in FIFA acting simultaneously as a regulator and a commercial operator.

Over the past two years, we have had many productive discussions with the European Commission and still believe that the European Commission will take the necessary action to protect fair competition and ensure that FIFA adheres to the relevant principles previously established by the European Court of Justice.

Until reforms are completed—including the establishment of legally binding mechanisms for all relevant football stakeholders to participate in decision-making—the European Leagues organization will refuse to support FIFA's plans for expanding or creating new competitions.

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