European Club Association reforms aim to hand back power to clubs from smaller nations. Do they do enough or even go too far?
IMAGO | LaLiga president, Javier Tebas, at the LaLiga Champions Gala.
The ECA is amending its statutes so that clubs from Europe’s top 6 leagues no longer hold the balance of power on its board and Exco. Will it change perceptions and stave off the ascent of rival bodies?
Analysis carried out by Off The Pitch shows how clubs that ECA board members represent dominate their domestic leagues, adding credence to a belief that its individual members use their power to entrench their own positions.
Why it matters: ECA is UEFA’s recognised club representative body, but has come under pressure after the Super League PR disaster and through the rise of the rival Union of European Clubs.
The perspective: With a new board of 33, is it too cumbersome to make meaningful decisions?
4 May 2023 - 4:09 PM
It was a day that may have caused some concern at the European Club Association’s (ECA) Nyon headquarters, but when the rival Union of European Clubs (UEC) officially launched last month in Brussels, it was a familiar face sticking the knife in.
The LaLiga president, Javier Tebas, has long been a critic of the ECA, famously sending Twitter messages delighting in the “GREAT NEWS” that its former chairman Andrea Agnelli, had been forced to step away from football.
In Brussel
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