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By Tony Attwood

It had to happen, largely because it always happens.  Fifa has found itself totally unable to accept that there are limits either to its engagements with possibly corrupt entities, its refusal to help the cause of migrant workers who built the stadia for the last world cup, or its aim to get bigger and bigger and bigger, without any thought for anyone else.

And so in a world where there are other entities wanting to run the show and wanting to get bigger, and where there are gigantic cock-ups happening all around, there is bound to be anger.

Thus even though the South American championship disaster, the trouble with the trains in Germany, or the infamous Wembley ticket cockup, was nothing directly to do with Fifa there is a mounting feeling in football that the top bodies need reigning in.  And so the clubs have decided to start right at the top with Fifa..

 As the Independent puts it, “The Premier League and the Professional Footballers’ Association are suing Fifa.”   Also joining in the fun are various other leagues and the players’ unions.

The action is over what they allege is abuse of a dominant position.   Now the laws in most democratic countries do recognise that although competition is the essence of our economic systems, sometimes special circumstances mean there is an excuse for a monopoly.  So it is agreed there should only be one World Cup, one European Championship, one Premier League.  (And indeed one Monopolies Commission).  

But with monopoly comes responsibility as it is very easy for monopolistic bodies to get carried away.   And this is what we have with Fifa (and I think Uefa, but I can’t find that confirmed as yet).   Fifa now stands accused of taking unilateral decisions which are for its own benefit and aggrandizement but not for the good of its member countries and their players.  An abuse of position in fact.  For which the remedy should be: abolish Fifa.

So the European leagues are coming together and complaining to the European Commission via their leagues, and Fifpro Europe, on the grounds that Fifa has “harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the welfare of players.”

Now that is pretty serious but there is something even bigger lying underneath because the argument is also that Fifa cannot be both the regulator of football as well as the competition organiser.  It is a straightforward conflict of interest – and the club world cup is a perfect example.

In short, Fifa cannot be a regulator of and a participant in football.  It is utterly obvious to everyone – except Fifa.

Now I would imagine that if Fifa loses the case it will then create a separate body to run international competitions but still with the old crowd running the show.  However I suspect that many of the clubs are now so annoyed with Fifa they will fight to stop this, and instead seek to take over all competitions themselves.

Certainly the European Court of Justice last year ordered Fifa and other bodies to be more transparent, more objective and more proportionate.  The argument is that they have ignored all this and carried on running more and more competitions for their own aggrandisement.

One of the really big annoyances for clubs is that Afcon is being played in the middle of the European season, impacting again on the leagues and their players, and that this was done in the usual way – without proper consultation or any agreement with the club.

As the Chief executive of the Premier League Richard Masters said earlier this year, “The calendar is getting less harmonious with every decision that is being made.”

Countering that an anonymous Fifa spokesperson said on Tuesday: “Fifa’s calendar is the only instrument ensuring that international football can continue to survive, co-exist, and prosper alongside domestic and continental club football.”

And indeed that is why Fifa needs to go, to get rid of its calendar.   But instead of seeing that he continued,  “Some leagues in Europe – themselves competition organisers and regulators – are acting with commercial self-interest,”

So what we have is the leagues accusing Fifa of acting with commercial self-interest and Fifa accusing the leagues of acting with commercial self-interest.

But the difference between Fifa and the leagues is that the league clubs employ the players, train the players, keep the players fit and develop the players.  Fifa does nothing but take the players, overplay them and hand them back to the clubs with the message saying “have him fit for the next international break.”

Fifa is, as it has been for so long, the enemy of organised football, and the sooner the countries around the globe de-recognise it and remove themselves from its pernicious interest, the better.