European Football Unites on Transfer Reform as FIFA Left Out of Key Discussions | OneFootball

European football's major stakeholders have taken control of transfer system reform, bypassing FIFA entirely in a move that highlights the strained relationship between the global governing body and the continent's decision-makers.

The four organisations met in Brussels on 26 November at the EU Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee, where UEFA, European Football Clubs, European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe adopted a joint resolution that sets out principles for future reforms. This followed October 2024's landmark Diarra ruling, when the European Court of Justice ruled that FIFA's regulations on players terminating their contracts broke EU law. The regulations restricted freedom of movement and competition.

Former Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra fought a decade-long battle with FIFA after leaving Lokomotiv Moscow in 2014, with the court ruling that automatic sporting sanctions and compensation payments blocked player mobility without proper justification.

FIFA was excluded from these discussions despite the stakes involved. The global body refuses to recognise European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe as social partners, even though Europe generates nearly 90 percent of global transfer market value. The exclusion demonstrates just how much power European football wields in shaping the sport's financial architecture. These aren't small sums either, when you factor in everything from transfer fees to the commercial activities that surround professional football.

The financial implications ripple through football's interconnected markets, which include not just transfer fees but also the various commercial interests tied to the sport. For instance, the European betting sites that serve UK punters have grown more sophisticated, with sharper odds and more diverse markets than many traditional bookmakers. These platforms feature comprehensive coverage of European leagues, where transfer activity directly impacts team performance and betting patterns.

With credit card deposits, e-wallet support for faster withdrawals and competitive bonuses that surpass UK regulatory limits, European bookies have carved out a niche by offering features that traditional operators cannot match. The transfer system's stability matters here too, as uncertainty around player movement affects odds calculations and market availability across football betting platforms.

Back to the governance question at hand, the joint resolution focuses on balancing legitimate club interests with player rights, upholding the role of leagues and clubs in developing the game, maintaining the transfer system's redistributive effects and improving procedures to make them simpler and more transparent. The social partners have also worked on three additional areas this year: diversity, equality and inclusion, national social dialogue support, and occupational health and safety. The health and safety discussions have looked at how modern football places demands on players, both physically and mentally, with attention paid to workload management and protecting rest periods within the international match calendar.

FIFA finds itself marginalised from decision-making in what represents one of football's most financially significant areas. The organisation can either adopt the reforms proposed by the very bodies it has worked to exclude or risk further legal challenges that could undermine its authority across Europe. FIFA's traditional top-down approach to governance now faces serious institutional pushback from the continent's regulatory bodies, with the European Commission backing this social dialogue framework. The social partners plan to continue their discussions through 2026, focusing particularly on compensation, training rewards and solidarity mechanisms.