Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has been voted onto the board of the European Clubs’ Association (ECA).
The ECA is an organisation recognised by FIFA and UEFA as an independent body that represents the interests of Europe’s leading clubs, with Paris Saint-Germain chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi its president.
Soriano, 56, was voted as the Premier League’s sole representative to stand on the ECA’s ‘Subdivision 1’ board — for clubs from the top six-ranked national associations in Europe — following elections for the 2023-2027 cycle.
The move is a boost to City and their position within European football at a time when they have been referred to an independent commission after being accused by the Premier League in February of more than 100 alleged breaches of financial fair play-related rules.
The reigning champions have welcomed the independent review and pointed to “irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position”.
The ECA says its mission is “safeguarding, strengthening and developing European clubs’ interestsas the key club stakeholder in all international football affairs and decision-making”.
Bayern Munich chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen, Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay, Feyenoord chief executive Dennis te Kloese, Marseille president Pablo Longoria, RB Leipzig’s Oliver Mintzlaff and Alessandro Antonello of Inter Milan have also been elected onto the board.
The elections took place on Thursday during the ECA’s General Assembly in Berlin.
The ECA has also agreed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UEFA until 2030, which includes a new revenue distribution cycle between 2024-27.
For Europe’s smaller teams, there will be an increase in solidarity payments for non-participating clubs in the league phase of UEFA competitions, which will rise from four to seven per cent. The ECA claims this is expected to secure €440million (£377m) per season, totalling €1.32bn (£1.13bn) across the new cycle period.
ECA Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, said: “This renewed Memorandum of Understanding between ECA and UEFA until 2030 is fantastic news for all European clubs, and for everyone concerned with the stability and prosperity of European club football. The MoU formalises agreements between UEFA and ECA on a wide range of governance, representation, regulatory, financial and sporting matters and establishes solid foundations for the continued development of European club football.
“As the ECA Family continues to rapidly multiply in size, representing clubs of all sizes in all corners of Europe, we very much look forward to our continued constructive, collaborative and trusted relationship with UEFA, ECA’s most important partner.”
GO DEEPER
UEFA to increase solidarity payments to clubs not competing in Europe
(Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
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