June 21 – Union St Gilles CEO Philippe Bormans has stepped down from the board of directors of the Belgian Pro League, claiming that the smaller clubs are not being properly represented.
“The concerns of the smaller clubs are not being listened to,” explained Bormans in his resignation announcement. “I hope that in the future they will think about the composition of the board of directors because this is not working.”
Lorin Parys chairs the board that includes Wouter Vandenhaute (Anderlecht), Sven Jacques (Antwerp), Harm Van Veldhoven (Lommel), Isabelle Mazzara (independent) and Bart De Smet (independent). Bormans represented the K13, the smaller clubs.
“I didn’t feel the will, not even from the management, to listen to the concerns of the smaller clubs,” said Bormans. “I was initially a representative of the 1B clubs and after promotion, I became the representative of the K11.”
“A year ago we started the Football First reforms. It voted for fewer members and also independent ones, of which we now have two. But one representative for 1B and me for the K13 is s not enough if you know that the G5 has two representatives.”
On Tuesday, the league consolidated the integration of U23 teams in the second division. Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Standard and Racing Genk will be allowed to maintain their U23 in the second division, which Bormans considers a disadvantage to other clubs. He felt that he could no longer contribute in a meaningful manner to the board.
Union however does have a seat on the interim board of the Union of European Clubs (UEC), a body recently launched with the promise of filling the governance gap in European football and representing those clubs that don’t have a voice in the decision-making process in the game. The UEC seeks to unite small and medium-sized clubs.
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