The Premier League has joined forces with La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga to demand urgent governance reform at FIFA as Gianni Infantino prepares to seek a fourth term as president. The four leading European leagues have accused Infantino of promoting "exploitative ideas" that undermine football's foundations, citing the controversial World Cup sell-off debacle and calling for stronger checks and balances to prevent political interference in disciplinary matters. Their strongly worded statement indicates that Infantino's offer of an external governance review does not satisfy their demands for fundamental change.

The leagues have proposed three specific governance reforms: the creation of a permanent decision-making body within FIFA including representatives of national associations, leagues, clubs and players; advance publication of reasoning behind major decisions; and the separation of FIFA's regulatory functions from its commercial operations. This intervention reflects mounting tension between Europe's top leagues and FIFA over the increasingly crowded match calendar and the expansion of competitions such as the Club World Cup. The European Leagues lobby group has also filed a legal complaint with the European Commission, originally filed two years ago and subsequently extended to include women's football. Candidates have until 18 November to declare their intention to stand in the March election, with Infantino currently the only declared candidate.