ECA Chairman informs General Assembly of start of discussions on UEFA Club Competitions post-2024

On 25 & 26 March, representatives from 164 ECA Member Clubs gathered in Amsterdam for the 22nd ECA General Assembly.

Address by the ECA Chairman

In his address to ECA Member Clubs, the ECA Chairman Andrea Agnelli provided details of recent devlopments, including the meeting between the ECA Executive Board and the UEFA Executive Committee held on 19 March. He confirmed that discussions had focused on the initial exchange of ideas around UEFA Club Competitions post-2024.

Andrea Agnelli commented:

“We have now launched the process to develop a vision for the future of UEFA Club Competitions post-2024. This is the start of a journey that will see further and deep engagement with all professional game stakeholders, prior to reaching any formal decisions.”

He also expressed his deep concern with the manner in which FIFA has acted with regards to the revamping of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Andrea Agnelli stated:

“We have repeatedly stressed that the International Match Calendar and competitions have been agreed and defined up to 2024. The main priority at this stage must be for stakeholders to engage in a detailed assessment of how the landscape of international football might evolve post-2024 prior to addressing specific competitions. FIFA’s decision to revamp its Club World Cup starting 2021 is one ECA cannot support.”

Ivan Gazidis re-elected to Executive Board

In line with the ECA Statutes, an election took place to appoint a Member of the Executive Board from Subdivision 1. This came following Ivan Gazidis' resignation as CEO of Arsenal FC and appointment to a similar position at AC Milan, which led to his seat on the Board becoming vacant. Ordinary Members from Subdivision 1 duly re-elected Ivan Gazidis on Monday 25 March. He will now see out the remainder of his term; i.e. until the first General Assembly of the new ECA Cycle (September 2019).

ECA Statutory Amendments

ECA Member Clubs voted unanimously to promote diversity and inclusion in football as a statutory objective of ECA. Further to this, the General Assembly adopted statutory changes which will see the appointment of a female Diversity Representative as an observer to the Executive Board. The representative will be appointed during the new ECA Cycle, starting on 1 July 2019. Further statutory changes were adopted to strengthen Ethical Standards within ECA, which will see the introduction of new internal disciplinary measures and procedures and clarification on the notion of Conflict of Interest.