Athens, Greece – 14 November 2025
The World Leagues Association (WLA) Annual Meeting was hosted by the Super League Greece in Athens this week and brought together more than 40 professional leagues from around the world to discuss the future of the global game. Leagues were joined by representatives from European Leagues Association, FIFPRO, FIFPRO Europe, UEFA, FIFA, EFC and the IFAB.
Katia Koxenoglou, Deputy-President of Super League Greece was elected to the WLA Supervisory Board where she will sit alongside representatives of the Premier League (ENG), Serie A (ITA), LaLiga (ESP), LFP (FRA), DFL (GER), Saudi Pro League (KSA), J.League (JPN), Premier Soccer League (SAF), MLS (USA), Liga MX (MEX) and LigaPro (ECU).
On the first day of this two-day event, leagues convened in workshops to share experiences on their respective development projects. They also met in continental formats (Africa, Americas, Europe and Asia) to discuss their achievements and challenges.
On the second day, the leagues analysed the dramatic increase in the number of international football matches in recent years. To address this trend , WLA reaffirmed its 2025 proposal, made to FIFA jointly with FIFPRO, the sole international legitimate representative of players, for a global governance framework establishing shared decision-making principles for the international calendar. The WLA leadership underlined its commitment to ensuring national leagues - home to over 4,000 clubs and 130,000 professional players – are central to football’s decision-making at international level according to the criteria set forth by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Further discussions covered the importance of the transfer system, which plays a vital role in redistributing resources and supporting training clubs against a backdrop of legal and regulatory changes.
The meeting also featured a session from the Women’s Leagues Forum, the global body representing Women’s national leagues, co-chaired by Nikki Doucet (CEO of the Women’s Super League) addressing the potential of women’s national leagues and their challenges. The WLA reaffirmed its commitment to supporting women’s league football and promoting its role in the global governance of the game.
Katia Koxenoglou, Deputy President of the Super League Greece and newly elected member of the WLA Supervisory Board said: “Hosting the WLA Annual Meeting in Athens is a great honor for Greek football. Our discussions showed the determination of WLA’s members to promote the role of national leagues in the global governance of football and to work with player unions and international governing bodies to create a more sustainable game. I would like to thank all my fellow colleagues for entrusting me with the task of representing them as a board member.”
Richard Masters, Chair of the World Leagues Association said: “This year’s annual meeting, which was superbly hosted by the Super League Greece, is the best attended we’ve ever had and it’s no surprise it comes at a time when the balance between national and international football is under threat from the unprecedented expansion of international competitions.
We cannot take football’s global popularity, its fans and its players for granted by fracturing this balance through an overloaded international calendar. All our members are united in their belief that to restore this balance domestic leagues must be protected.
Football at all levels, from international competitions to grassroots, needs strong national leagues to provide the foundations. Dialogue with FIFA is now crucial and it is in the best interests of football to involve the leagues in any future decisions about the international.”
