Premier League chief Richard Masters believes domestic leagues are in a “struggle” with FIFA for fans’ attention and players’ time, with the global governing body still not listening to concerns about fixture congestion and player welfare.

Speaking at the Leaders sports business conference in London, Masters contrasted the growth in the number of games and competitions FIFA and UEFA now stage with a Premier League schedule that has not changed since 1994.

“There is no more space in the calendar,” he said. “Obviously there’s a player welfare issue but it’s essentially a struggle for the raw materials of football, which are the players and the calendar space.

“Our job at the Premier League is to protect domestic football, protect the Premier League’s space, which is primarily a weekend competition.

“We want all of our owners and managers to wake up in the morning with one priority, which is to win or be successful in the Premier League, and not to think ‘I’ve got too many conflicting priorities now, I’m going to rest somebody at the weekend’.

“I do believe that priority is still there and I want that to continue.”

As well as running the Premier League, Masters is the chair of the World Leagues Association, which last year teamed up with the European arm of players’ union FIFPro to file a complaint at the European Commission against FIFA for an alleged abuse of a dominant market position.

“We have our differences with FIFA (over) the lack of consultation with domestic football generally,” he said. “We think that needs to change. We think domestic football needs a seat at the table as these changes are made.”

FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup has been added to football’s already packed calendar (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

According to Masters, the expansion in competitions, for clubs and national sides, has already forced the Premier League to start a week later than usual, scrap its mid-winter break and ask the English Football Association to get rid of cup replays.

“That’s not through choice,” he explained. “That’s the butterfly effect of other people, in different rooms, making decisions about the future of football and locking out leagues from that conversation.

“And that’s not UEFA by the way. UEFA do consult with the European leagues and directly with the Premier League.

“You can feel the impact of our voice on the final outcomes. I may not agree with all of it but at least you can see that (impact). That doesn’t happen with FIFA at all.”

FIFA has been approached for comment.

Masters’ remarks about FIFA’s failure to consult with all the game’s stakeholders come a few days after FIFPro published its latest annual player workload report, which claimed that the top stars are playing too many games, with too much travel and not enough rest.

FIFA, however, has repeatedly denied that it is to blame for the rising demands on players, pointing out that UEFA has increased the size of its club competitions and the increased number of overseas friendlies the top clubs play between seasons and sometimes even mid-season.

There is some merit in this argument. During his question-and-answer session at the conference on Thursday, Masters talked with pride about the pre-season friendly tournaments the Premier League has staged in Asia and North America over the last two decades.

He was also asked about the league’s attempt to replace its profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR) with a UEFA-style “squad cost” regime. The Premier League has been trying to persuade its clubs to make this change for over a year but has so far not found enough agreement around the table to even put the idea to a vote.

The most recent attempt to find consensus was at a league shareholders’ meeting last week but, with several clubs still unhappy with the planned changes, it was agreed to postpone a vote on the new regulations until the next meeting in November.

The league’s proposal is to scrap PSR, which is based on clubs being allowed to lose a maximum of £105million ($141m) over a rolling three-year period, with a rule that says clubs can only spend up to 85 per cent of their total income on the first-team squad’s wages, amortised transfer costs and agents’ fees. UEFA’s squad-cost cap is set at 70 per cent.

“We are talking to our clubs about an alternative system,” said Masters. “That’s not to say we don’t think the PSR system works — it’s about closer alignment with European regulation.

“Our system will be at 85 per cent because we always want our clubs to have the ability to invest. So, when you compare the Premier League system at 85 per cent, if it happens, and you look at the other big European leagues, we have a more permissive system.

“Too permissive, some might say. And it’s all a matter of choice. The Premier League has been built on backing investment (and) international capital flows coming in. We don’t want that to be stymied off.”

(Top photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images)