Javier Tebas has long been a rival to Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Credit: Reuters/Isabel Infantes
A new breakthrough in European football politics will receive significant support from Spanish league president Javier Tebas, who will challenge the authority of the European Club Association (ECA), which is run by his arch-rival Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
The new Union of European Clubs (UEC) will seek to represent those clubs it considers not to be elite and is a significant change in club football politics on the continent as front lines line up for control of the football calendar. and his wealth after 2024.
Tebas will give a speech at the UEC conference in Brussels on Monday to explain his position to stakeholders and his intention to reclaim some of the influence that the ECA has on UEFA. The expanded new membership is expected to include a number of Premier League clubs outside the big six.
The ECA is leading Al-Khelaifi after an unfortunate break from the European Super League in 2021 and he is a hugely influential figure in the game. Al-Khelaifi is a key ally of UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin and together they have reshaped the post-2024 Champions League format from six group games to ten.
In addition, Al-Khelaifi, a Qatari who also runs the beIN Media group, one of the largest broadcasters in the world, last month signed an agreement on behalf of the ECA with FIFA that will launch a team of 32 people. FIFA Club World Cup (FCWC) in 2025.
Mid-tier clubs across Europe excluded from UEFA competitions, and some fear that elite clubs will earn more from UEFA and FIFA competitions in the future . Tebas and UEC believe that those clubs that are not part of this elite are its natural support.
Many of them believe that ECA only represents the interests of the biggest clubs. The ECA has 245 member clubs from all 55 UEFA countries. All ordinary members, as described by the ECA, must be part of the top echelon of their country and be admitted on a four-year cycle. Only the 16 founding members have full-time membership regardless of their status, and from the UK, they only include Manchester United, Chelsea and Rangers.
Tebas also retired from the European League Group (EL), which represents national leagues across Europe and opposes UEFA expansionism. Tebas represented EL on the UEFA executive committee.
Tebas is involved in an extraordinary feud with beIN and Al-Khelaifi. Last year, the League's president stated that beIN had delayed the payment schedule for the League's rights agreement. This sparked a lawsuit from beIN, who described Tebas as pursuing «reckless personal feuds». Tebas is also in a legal dispute with PSG.
The ECA also accepts Associate Members, as it calls them, although there are strict criteria for who can join and those who have never competed in UEFA competition are excluded. ECA has a joint venture with UEFA that controls rights revenue from its broadcast contracts and is expected to sign a similar agreement with FIFA for FCWC.
Tebas is defined by both his enemies and his allies. . He is no longer in talks with Real Madrid and Barcelona presidents Florentino Pérez and Joan Laporta, who led opposition to his Liga Boost funding last year, which involved the sale of future television revenues in exchange for upfront funding. for the two leading divisions in Spain from private investors CVC. Tebas regularly criticizes the financial superiority of the Premier League.
Ceferin believes Al-Khelaifi is critical in UEFA's battle with Real Madrid and Barcelona, as well as Juventus for ESL, which is still has not yet been resolved. The UEC will include director of Lokomotiv Zagreb Dennis Gudasic; as well as sports lawyers Katarina Pietlovich and Gareth Farrelly, a former midfielder for Bolton Wanderers.
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