April 9 – Having seemingly made peace with UEFA after being handed a voice on its executive committee, the body comprising Europe’s major leagues is back on the offensive by criticising UEFA’s distribution model for the 2018-21 cycle, saying it only increases the gap between the haves and have-nots.
A statement released following the organisation’s annual assembly said the new model “is not beneficial in improving competitive balance in European Football.”
“Indeed the new distribution model further increases the economic and financial differences between clubs from the same league. The inclusion of the new Coefficient Pillar among the distribution criteria favours clubs that repeatedly participate in the UEFA Champions League/Europa League, or clubs which have historically won titles.”
The meeting, which officially approved a name change from the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) to simply the ‘European Leagues’, also tackled the thorny problem of the summer transfer window.
England’s Premier League and Italy’s Serie A have already agreed to close the window before the start of their respective seasons so that everyone knows what their squads are in advance.
The European Leagues, which represents 32 football leagues in 25 countries, didn’t go quite that far but proposed that members close the window in their respective leagues no later than the August 31.
This, the organisation said, “will ensure that all player transfers are concluded after the qualifying rounds for European club competitions have taken place.”
After the meeting in Edinburgh, European Leagues chief Lars Christer Olsson re-iterated the opposition to UEFA’s distribution plans. “It is disappointing that from our analysis competitive balance is still not being addressed by the football family,” he said. “This is a fundamental issue for our members and in the coming months we will be working hard to create a fairer and better model for financial distribution and solidarity.”
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