By Rohith Nair
Sept 8 (Reuters) - European Leagues widened its attack on FIFA's grip over football scheduling on Tuesday, extending its European Commission complaint to include what it calls FIFA's "abusive conduct" regarding the women's international match calendar.
The body formally submitted the expanded complaint to the European Commission's competition watchdog, arguing that FIFA's dual role as both governing body and competition organiser creates a conflict of interest that violates EU competition law.
The expanded complaint follows the same pattern as European Leagues' previous challenge over men's football scheduling, alleging FIFA abuses its regulatory position to benefit its own competitions at the expense of domestic leagues.
"As in men's football, FIFA consistently uses its regulatory power to favour its own competition and commercial interests to the detriment of women's football and of European national leagues," it said in a statement.
"The recent controversy surrounding the aborted FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative has further exposed this structural conflict and vividly illustrates how profit-driven motives taint FIFA's regulatory decisions and decision-making processes.
"The case law of the European Court of Justice makes clear that, to continue serving as football's global governing body, FIFA must exercise its regulatory functions in a way that is transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate so as to neutralise this conflict of interest."
Reuters has contacted FIFA for comment.
FIFA pushed back the inaugural Women's Club World Cup by two years to January 2028 to allow stakeholders more time to prepare and give the players breathing space in a condensed schedule.
However, although it will take place during the NWSL Championship close-season in the U.S., it will disrupt the campaign for most of Europe's top leagues.
European Leagues said it was ready to engage with the European Commission, public authorities and other football stakeholders throughout the investigation.
"The European Commission must now act to ensure that EU law is respected and that the future of women's professional football is not determined unilaterally by FIFA," it added.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
