Fifa has suffered a legal setback just weeks before the 2026 World Cup, after the French footballers' union UNFP achieved a landmark decision in the European courts. The UNFP successfully advanced a complaint concerning the health and safety of players' working conditions and a lack of collective bargaining resulting from decisions made by Fifa.
Legal Complaint Against French State
The UNFP's complaint, filed at the European Committee of Social Rights, targets the French state for failing to uphold protections committed under the European Social Charter. The case will now proceed to a full hearing. If successful, it could pressure governments across Europe to hold Fifa accountable for expanding the global football calendar, thereby increasing the workload of professional footballers.
International players' union Fifpro Europe issued a statement highlighting the broader implications: "Violations of fundamental labour rights – on health and safety, working time, and the right to collective bargaining – are not isolated failures of individual states. They are a structural feature of professional football, driven by Fifa's expanding competition formats and its unilateral decision-making and control over the international match calendar, in which players and their representatives have no meaningful say."
Broader Implications Beyond France
Fifpro Europe emphasized that France is not alone in this situation. Many other states face comparable issues, with minimum standards for working time, rest periods, occupational health, and collective bargaining being structurally undermined by global decisions. The union regards the UNFP complaint as a signal case with implications well beyond France.
This legal battle is the latest in a series of disputes between player unions and Fifa over the governing body's introduction of a 32-team Club World Cup and the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams. The development comes just over a month before the largest men's World Cup in history is set to kick off in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
