By Samindra Kunti in Brussels
April 25 – With the firm support of Spain’s La Liga, the Union of European Clubs (UEC) was launched on Monday, promising to represent Europe’s smaller and medium-sized clubs to counterbalance – but not fight – the European Club Association (ECA), an organisation seen to defend the interests of a small cabal of elite clubs.
From Spain’s Sevilla to Wales’s Aberystwyth Town, a wide spectrum of European clubs attended the launch of the UEC, a body that with the support of small benefactors from across Europe and La Liga wants “to fill the governance gap in European football”, appealing to about 1,400 clubs who don’t qualify for European competitions but do not have a voice in continental decision-making.
The one-club-one-vote proposal is a powerful sales pitch by the UEC founders Lokomotiva Zagreb’s Dennis Gudasic as well as lawyers Katarina Pijetlovic and Garreth Farrelly.
“The Union of European Clubs fills a massive void and will champion the interests of the clubs that form the foundation of European football,” said Gudasic, proposing a future of sustainability in a balanced football ecosystem.
“It is crucial that small and medium-sized clubs gain a voice. Over the past decades, football has become increasingly a game of the elite, this trend needs to be reversed or the beautiful game will suffer irreparable harm.”
His voice was lent support by clubs. “We need a different voice,” said Crystal Palace’s Steve Parish, pointing out that his club had spent a record €40 million on transfers which ultimately was the lowest outlay in the Premier League. “We aren’t represented anywhere at the European level.”
Palace, Aston Villa, Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford from the Premier League as well as Championship side Watford showed interest in the UEC.
A former Everton player, Farrelly spoke of the importance of “mobility in the European sports model”, “the domestic leagues as the main pillars of sports” and “open access to UEFA club competitions based on results in the domestic league.”
Union Saint-Gilloise president Alex Muzio said that “ECA is dominated by bigger teams and the voice of clubs like his is not really there.”
Having reached the last eight of the Europa League and still in contention for the Belgian league title, Muzio’s Brussels-based club has been one of the stories of the season, but the protege of Tony Bloom expressed concern about the direction football is going in.
He said: “Twenty years ago, small and medium clubs were talked about as provincial. Today when you talk about small and medium you are essentially talking about clubs that are not the biggest in the world – that doesn’t make sense.”
The launch of the UEC could be seen as an attack on the ECA, but as a new player in the European football landscape, the union does not want to position itself as a political football kicked between the ECA and La Liga.
Pijetlovic said that the UEC would seek a place in the decision-making organs of UEFA and she stressed the importance of “complementing ECA” and engaging with stakeholders.
But the launch of the UEC has prompted a backlash from ECA. There was a fear among UEC organisers that ECA put pressure on clubs to shun the launch. ECA also issued a press release on “a new online platform for football-friendly fixtures coordination” during the UEC launch. La Liga boss Javier Tebas (pictured) accused the ECA of “destructuring” the game. He said: “I am fed up with hearing that the ECA represents the European clubs. It represents the elite clubs in Europe.”
However, at this stage of the UEC’s incarnation, the membership, restricted to clubs from the top two divisions in each country, remains up in the air. Clubs from across 33 European countries, excluding France, attended in person or online, but it remains unclear which clubs have committed to the union. Organisers are confident though that following the launch clubs will sign up and fight for their rights in the future.
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