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The European Club Association (ECA), representing over 240 leading European football clubs, has endorsed UEFA’s reforms to men’s European club competitions post-2024 which were fully and finally approved by the UEFA Executive Committee in Vienna today.

ECA has worked together with UEFA since the reforms were first initiated a number of years ago, to ensure the most balanced and progressive evolution to the club competitions. As the representative voice of the clubs who participate in these competitions, ECA has long championed reforms to make club football across all European competitions more sustainable, inclusive and successful.

 

ECA believes that the format and access decisions agreed at UEFA’s ExCo today deliver on a number of important objectives, including:

  • Confirmation of a brand new, innovative format in the shape of the new league system across all three competitions – the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Europa Conference League;

  • Growth from 96 to 108 participating teams with a good balance of teams from across all countries, including at least 37 national champions accessing men’s European competitions;

  • More opportunities for all clubs – big and small – to play and be seen on the European stage in more European football match weeks, including an exclusive week for each competition;

  • An overall focus on sporting merit – both domestic and European – while ensuring that each competition retains its own unique sporting excitement and commercial value, which benefits the entire European football pyramid.

 

The agreement reached on the competitions’ access list and calendar mean that the new-look competitions will have the best start in life, resulting from exhaustive consultations between UEFA and ECA over a number of years that ensure the legitimate interests of all relevant stakeholders are respected – driven by collective rather than self-interest. The new format also gives the opportunity for future growth of European football in a sustainable, responsible and inclusive way.

 

The decision followed yesterday’s ECA Executive Board meeting in Madrid (see here) where UEFA’s final version of the reforms was endorsed by ECA.