Four of Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues have banded together to hit out at FIFA president Gianni Infantino.Infantino has come in for criticism in recent weeks following his plans to sell off stakes in the World Cup.Infantino is under mounting pressure from Europe’s biggest leaguesAFPEuropean football’s governing body UEFA considered legal action against the FIFA supremo, which saw the idea temporarily shelved.Earlier this week, Infantino was open to an external review of the plan while adding he should be allowed to continue to operate as FIFA president ahead of the election in March 2027.However, the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga and Serie A chiefs have since called for “a new governance structure for our sport’s global governing body that is transparent, objective, proportionate and inclusive”.What does the statement say?Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, Javier Tebas, president LaLiga, Marc Lenz, CEO Bundesliga, and Luigi De Siervo, CEO of Serie A have all co-signed the statement in question.“Football’s longstanding foundations have, in recent years, been threatened by a fundamental governance problem, whereby FIFA’s president has actively promoted exploitative ideas rather than safeguarding against them,” the respective Leagues say.“And while football’s stakeholders ultimately forced the withdrawal of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme, the conditions that led to FFE remain.”‘Political interference’The statement continued: “The FIFA president has now acknowledged the need for reform, but it is not enough for surface-level, process changes to be explored in the aftermath of FFE – fundamental governance reform is essential to restore clear constitutional boundaries within FIFA, including confidence that individual disciplinary matters remain demonstrably insulated from political interference.”The last point in particular refers to US president Donald Trump’s input in USMNT striker’s Folarin Balogun 2026 World Cup suspension being overturned for the last-16 tie with Belgium.The leagues aren’t best pleased about political interference surrounding key decisionsGettyThe letter continued: “The future of FIFA matters to everyone who cares about football, because our sport cannot grow globally if its foundations are undermined.“FIFA’s governance problem goes far beyond the role of one individual. The wider question is whether FIFA’s president should simultaneously wield such regulatory, commercial and political power without effective checks and balances, including the agreement of affected stakeholders.“More than a decade ago, following criminal proceedings involving senior football officials, FIFA’s own reform process sought to address these issues – yet, once again, football has suffered one of the biggest abuses of power in FIFA’s history.“We are speaking up together, as founding members of European Leagues and the World Leagues Association, because we understand how FIFA’s relentless expansionism affects everyone.“And ahead of the presidential elections next year, the leagues have called on candidates to ‘publish their own reform programme’.“Now is the moment to decide not only who will lead FIFA, but also how FIFA should be led.“Leagues have a crucial role to play in this process, and we want to ensure that the voice of every league is heard.”