March 29 – Almost exactly a year after the collapse of the European Super League idea, the head of the European Club Association says his organisation has never been stronger, largely thanks to its collaboration with UEFA.
Last April, 12 European clubs announced plans to form a breakaway league, only for the project to implode within days following the withdrawal of all but three of them.
ECA chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi (pictured) suggested that the partnership with UEFA had proved to be more lucrative for European football than the proposed European Super League would have been.
“For the first time ever, UEFA and ECA have worked jointly to conduct an open and competitive tender to manage the sales process for men’s European club competitions,” Al-Khelaifi told the body’s general assembly in Vienna.
“We have seen an amazing 39% increase in the forecasted commercial value of the men’s UEFA club competitions for the post-2024 cycle. This deal also proves that the doubters of the European football model were wrong.
“More influence and more affluence for clubs, more progressive governance and more European togetherness – I remember some people trying to tear down the system for a fraction of these things last year.”
Al-Khelaifi also announced that the ECA was making a €1 million contribution to aid the Ukrainian people affected by Russia’s invasion of the country.
“We are living through troubling times. We have all grieved to see the violent attacks on the Ukrainian people, and we call for peace,” the Paris Saint-Germain president said.
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