April 1 – European club representatives will join the top table of UEFA in a major breakthrough in terms of the way European football is governed. Two European Club Association officials will sit on UEFA’s executive committee meeting as “co-opted” members with full voting rights to follow, to be implemented at next year’s UEFA Congress.
The move, announced following the ECA’s general assembly in Stockholm, forms part of a new agreement with UEFA that guarantees clubs a record funding pot of €2.24 billion over the next three seasons and a more even distribution of money, with the much-maligned Europa League getting increased revenue in the qualifying rounds.
The 32 Champions League group stage clubs will share €1.267 billio per season, with each receiving a minimum €12 million. Clubs playing in the round of 16 will receive €5.5 million each, the quarter-finalists €6 million each and the semi-finalists €7 million. The Champions League winners will receive €15 million and the runners-up €10.5 million, inclusive of their ticketing revenue share. The winner could receive a maximum €54.5 million.
Key to the deal was making the Europa League, the so-called poorer sister of European club football, more lucrative, and giving bigger shares to teams eliminated in the qualifying rounds. The 48 group-stage clubs will now share €381 million in the 2015-18 cycle, compared to €233 million during 2012-15, a 65% increase.
UEFA has also agreed to hand over at least €200 million from Euro 2020 revenues to the clubs for releasing their players, an increase of €50 million
ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (pictured left with UEFA president Michel Platini), who seems likely to land one of the two UEFA exco seats, said the agreement with UEFA could not be under-estimated for his 200-plus member clubs.
“In the future ECA will not only be directly involved in the shaping of European football through its participation in the UEFA Executive Committee, but also benefit from higher funding,” he said.
“The ECA is still a very young organisation and these achievements are an extraordinary success, which will strengthen the solidarity among the clubs and our sense of responsibility for football.”
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