ECA and UEFA have today signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that extends the agreement and partnership between European football’s governing body and ECA, as the sole body representative of clubs at European level, until 2030.
The agreement was concluded today ahead of ECA’s 30th General Assembly in Berlin, Germany, at a signing ceremony with ECA Chairman, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and UEFA President, Aleksander Čeferin.
The renewed MoU guarantees that, for the entire duration of the agreement until July 2030, ECA will continue to recognise UEFA as the governing body of football in Europe and UEFA will continue to recognise ECA as the sole body representative of clubs at European level.
The new long-term agreement further strengthens the relationship between ECA – whose size has almost doubled to nearly 500 clubs today with member and network clubs – and UEFA, which has seen strong collaboration on numerous issues of importance to European club football since ECA’s foundation in 2008.
Throughout the last 2019/23 cycle ECA and UEFA reached agreements on various topics including the International Match Calendar, the post-2024 format and access to UEFA club competitions, distribution of UEFA club competition revenues, and the new Financial Sustainability Rules. Under the terms of the new MoU, ECA’s representation in UEFA bodies will be maintained in existing committees and be further extended to various new ones.
A central element of this agreement is the shared priority to nurture European club football at every level. This will manifest through a new revenue distribution model for the 2024/27 cycle, boasting an unprecedented increase of solidarity payments that will benefit clubs in domestic league competitions.
The share reserved in the new cycle to clubs not participating in the league phase of UEFA competitions will increase to a total of 10%: besides the 3% reserved for clubs eliminated in the qualifying rounds, the share for clubs which have not participated at all will grow to 7%, (up from the current 4%), securing €440m per season – being €1.32bn over the cycle – in what is the sole redistribution scheme for clubs at a pan-European level. The new distribution system for participating clubs will give greater focus to participation (from 25% to 27.5% will be shared equally) and performance (from 30% to 37.5%), while the existing two pillars of market pool and coefficient will be merged and reduced (from 45% to 35%). Full details of the new system will be disclosed as soon as the technical work has concluded.
The MoU also captures the evolution of UEFA Club Competitions SA – the joint venture between UEFA and the ECA – to further drive the commercial development of UEFA’s club competitions.
Speaking at the signing in Berlin, ECA Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, 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.”
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said: "This new MoU builds upon the solid foundation of cooperation between UEFA and the ECA to enhance the open and values-based European football pyramid celebrated by fans worldwide. It will bring continuity, stability and healthy growth that will benefit every corner of Europe. I would like to thank the ECA Executive Board and its Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaïfi for their efforts in making this renewed agreement become a reality. Our cooperation will strengthen European football, and we look forward to it resulting in the further development and success of the game."
