KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING —- FIFA appears to have been spooked into action by the growing volume of complaint from the game at large about the escalating weight of fixtures with the subsequent pressure on players’ mental and physical fitness.

The last meeting of the FIFA Council agreed to set up a working group and invite player and club representatives to join. The proposed membership list has been drawn up and progress is forecast “in the coming months.”

This, of course, will all be too late to disrupt FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s controversially expanded Club World Cup next summer. It also remains to be seen whether the working group is a serious proposal or a fig leaf to quieten concerns.

One of the other issues for a decision is whether to allow the “export” of domestic league matches to another territory as in the plans for a Spanish second tier match to be staged in the United States.

FIFA statement:

Following the decision by the FIFA Council to establish a working group to gather further information and issue recommendations in relation to the FIFA Regulations Governing International Matches, the process has now moved another step forward.
The working group will be composed of the following representatives:
Two representatives from Member Associations
One representative from each Confederation
Two representatives from the European Club Association
Two representatives from FIFPRO
Two representatives from the World Leagues Association
One representative from a match organiser
The working group’s primary objective will be to review and recommend potential changes to the FIFA Regulations Governing International Matches, specifically:
i, the rules, procedures and processes for authorising interclub football matches or competitions; and
ii, the criteria to be applied for authorising such matches or competitions.
Any prospective proposals are required to be based on the principles of transparency, objectivity, non-discrimination and proportionality.
The working group is expected to issue its recommendations in the coming months.

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