LONDON — Chelsea and England defender Lucy Bronze said she wants to “protect [football] for the fans” after joining a collective statement criticising FIFA president Gianni Infantino and the “current leadership’s ability to distinguish between its own interests and what is best for football.”
Bronze was one of several former and current players, including Emmanuel Petit and Mikaël Silvestre, to share the statement on Monday.
The statement criticised FIFA’s recent plans to sell stakes in FIFA competitions in pursuit of greater commercial profits, arguing that the organisation was drifting away from the core values that have sustained the game.
“For too long, we’ve seen major decisions taken without players being consulted or considered, and without any regard for the fans who sustain the sport,” the statement read.
“Change is necessary. Power has blurred the current leadership’s ability to distinguish between its own interests and what is best for football. Recent events have made silence impossible. Enough is enough.”
Bronze echoed those concerns on Tuesday, stressing the importance of players protecting the women’s game and ensuring that football remains the priority.
“I just think being a footballer, being a player, we have a stage where our voice can be heard. I think we’ve seen over the past few years how football’s changed, probably more so on the men’s side. I think it’s something that we’re very aware of on the women’s side of protecting our game as well,” she told a news conference on Tuesday ahead of Chelsea’s Women’s Champions League qualifying third round first leg at home to Real Sociedad.
“I think collectively there’s so many players who want to make sure that the game’s in a good place for years to come, for decades to come, that the people making the decisions are making the decisions based on the fans and the game itself and that football comes first no matter what.
“No matter who’s in charge, who’s playing, who the fans are, who the teams are, football always comes first. I think it’s making sure that we realign that now. It just feels like now is a good time for players to speak up. It’s a lot of ex-players, a lot of current players all over the world who are in touch with each other and just want to make a stand to say, this is our game. We want to protect it. We want to protect it for the fans as well as the players. I think that’s the key message,” she said.
Bronze has been one of the most outspoken women’s players in opposition to FIFA’s decision and has also backed the threatened UEFA boycott in response to Infantino’s plans, despite the potential impact on the Women’s U20 World Cup next month and the 2027 Women’s World Cup, calling it a necessary measure to protect the game for future generations.
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“The message that we stand by … is ‘for the good of the game.’ The players who play in those competitions, the European players, we stand by our beliefs and what the right thing is for our game,” she said on Aug. 7 while in New Zealand for a preseason tour with Chelsea.
“If that means boycotting competitions, then that has to happen. It’s for the future of the game and not just for me today and tomorrow, it’s for all the little girls or little boys who come after us to make sure that they’re in a good place, when the game is moving forward in decades to come, not just tomorrow.”
In a statement, UEFA said Infantino’s apology “changes nothing.”
While the commercial plans have now been scrapped, UEFA said its concerns remained because assurances that similar proposals would not be raised again had not been provided, meaning the conditions for lifting the boycott had not been met.
