Nasser Al-Khelaifi insists Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid ‘shout at the sky, while the rest of us are building a better future for European football’, while Aleksander Ceferin aims a new dig at Andrea Agnelli.
The ECA’s General Assembly took place in Geneva today. Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona are still not part of the European Club Association as they haven’t yet withdrawn from the Super League.
The remaining nine clubs that decided to abandon the competition in April, were reintroduced in the association and their representatives took part in the meeting today.
Also, Roma owner Dan Friedkin was confirmed as a new board member along with Bayer Leverkusen’s Fernando Carro and Oleg Petrov from Monaco.
Andrea Agnelli stepped down as ECA President after the Super League announcement on April 18 and was replaced by PSG Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
The latter spoke for the first time during an in-person assembly.
“I will not spend much time talking about the 18th of April, and the “not-so-Super League” because I do not like to focus on fabulists and failures,” he said.
“Together, we defended the interests of European football for everyone – for the players, the Clubs, the Leagues, the National Associations, and most of all, the fans. We relied on the resolve and strength of President Ceferin, who stood up to the midnight coup – and people with short memories should remember that this is exactly what it was.
“You all should know that President Ceferin was confident from the start. We spoke early in the morning on the 18th of April, and he said, “we will win”. And we did. Thank you, President Čeferin.”
“And while the three rebel-Clubs waste energies, twist narratives and continue to shout at the sky, the rest of us are moving forward and focusing every energy on building a better future for European football – together as one,” he continued.
“As you know, for the 9 Clubs who asked to come back into our family, the ECA Board has re-integrated them into our structures with renewed commitments to strengthen our Association. I welcome them back to the ECA-family.
“And now, looking ahead, to meet the challenges currently facing European football, the ECA needs to evolve with a stronger purpose.
“We want the ECA to be the heart of European football – a purposeful and powerful stakeholder driving the agenda and development of a united European football family. We also want the ECA to represent and support more and more European Professional Football Clubs, so we truly represent the interests of all.”
UEFA President Ceferin also had a speech and didn’t miss his chance to aim a dig at Juventus President Andrea Agnelli: “Al-Khelaifi is a good captain who took the wheel when the old captain escaped from the ship,” he said.
Ceferin also rejected the idea of holding the World Cup every two years.
“The jewel of the World Cup had value precisely because of its rarity,” he said.
“Holding it every two years will lead to more randomisation, less legitimacy and unfortunately, dilute the World Cup itself.”