European Leagues expands EU complaint against FIFA to cover women’s international calendar
European Leagues says its existing EU competition complaint now covers FIFA’s 2026–2029 women’s calendar. FIFA says the framework followed extensive consultation.
European Leagues said on September 8, 2026, that it had formally extended its European Commission competition complaint against FIFA to include the Women’s International Match Calendar and related regulatory decisions.
The submission was made to the Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, according to European Leagues and specialist publication Football Legal.
European Leagues alleges that FIFA’s governing and commercial roles create a conflict of interest and that professional women’s leagues were not meaningfully engaged in decisions affecting the domestic game. These are allegations; no competition-law breach has been established.
FIFA presents a different account. When its Council unanimously approved the 2026–2029 Women’s International Match Calendar on May 15, 2024, the governing body said the framework followed research, analysis and consultation with confederations and other stakeholders.
FIFA also said the calendar would reduce the number of annual international windows from six to five, limiting travel and disruption to domestic leagues. That statistic relates to the FIFA Women’s International Match Calendar for 2026–2029 and was published on May 15, 2024.
The latest submission broadens a complaint originally filed on October 14, 2024 by European Leagues, FIFPRO Europe and LaLiga concerning FIFA’s men’s international calendar.
The dispute therefore centres not only on scheduling but on sports governance: who participates in calendar decisions, how domestic and international competitions are balanced, and whether FIFA’s regulatory and commercial functions comply with European competition rules.
At the time of publication, no public acknowledgement, investigation notice or finding from the European Commission concerning the women’s-calendar extension had been located. Filing a complaint does not establish its merits or mean that a formal investigation has begun.
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