In a statement released on Tuesday, a number of organisations representing players and clubs in Europe said they will file a complaint to FIFA over football's congested calendar – here is how Mamelodi Sundowns could be impacted.
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First Post reports that FIFPro Europe and the European Leagues body has accused FIFA of taking "unilateral decisions" regarding its competitions, and claim that the organisation's conduct "infringes EU competition law and notably constitutes an abuse of dominance".
FIFPro is the sport's players' union, while European Leagues represents more than 1 000 teams across Europe, with its member leagues including the Premier League.
The two bodies argue that FIFA has no regard for the economic interests of national leagues and player welfare. They also claim the world football body's role as a "regulator and competition organiser is a conflict of interest".
This comes amid FIFA's decision to expand the Club World Cup, which now contains 32 teams from around the world.
Mamelodi Sundowns are set to take part in the competition in June next year.
The tournament, which used to be played in December every year, will now be held at a time when many footballers would generally be on an end-of-season break, and only a year before the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup kicks off.
"The international match calendar is now beyond saturation and has become unsustainable for national leagues and a risk for the health of players," the joint statement read.
"FIFA's decisions over the last years have repeatedly favoured its own competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body, and harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the welfare of players.
"National leagues and player unions, which represent the interests of all clubs and all players at the national level, and regulate labour relations through collectively agreed solutions, cannot accept that global regulations are decided unilaterally.
"Legal action is now the only responsible step for European leagues and player unions to protect football, its ecosystem and its workforce from FIFA's unilateral decisions."
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Reports have further claimed that, should nothing come of these complaints, footballers could go on strike to drive home their stance, which could leave the Club World Cup in jeopardy.
