On Tuesday evening, FIFA released a short statement that would have stunned any fans watching, but actually said a lot about the power of the game. The global governing body was effectively forced to publicly explain a ‘meeting’ – FIFA’s own quotes – with one group representative of smaller clubs, while touting the strength of its relationship with the European Club Association, the largest group representing clubs , reaffirmed. .
It can be read here: https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/news/fifa-clarifying-context-and-substance-of-exchange-with-union-of-european-clubs.
Before that statement, virtually no one knew about a meeting between FIFA and the Union of European Clubs, which wants to offer a voice to more than 140 clubs that do not feel sufficiently addressed at the top of the game, including Crystal Palace and Osasuna. That meeting was in fact about a serious issue, essential for the survival of some members. The FIFA Clearing House has still not paid out up to €140 million in payments owed to teams for the development of players who were later sold. Many of these clubs are in extremely difficult financial situations and are therefore extremely dependent on money.
Ironically, the FIFA Clearing House is widely seen as a “long-awaited step forward” in the global body’s attempts to reform the transfer market, in this case ensuring fair compensation for talent development. One problem was that the system is “too complicated and too demanding” for the clubs it was intended for, which is precisely why less than €140 million has been paid out yet. This is what UEC met with FIFA about, to make some recommendations on how it could work and to highlight the issue, while discussing other related regulatory issues specific to smaller clubs. The ECA is actually working on the same situation for their own clubs, who have also been affected by the Clearing House problems. It has been described as a “mess”, from the administration to some legal complications. There is a lot of work to do. The statement shows that apparently two representative bodies had to be involved.
That’s also where it gets complicated, and how this seemingly innocent statement says so much about the future of football.
The ECA is the body that emerged from the old G14, which was essentially the grouping of the most powerful clubs in the game. That evolved to represent clubs that played in European competition, but for a long time was led by the biggest powers, most notably Manchester United and Bayern Munich. That was at least until the Super League crisis, which saw many such big club executives forced to resign, and which eventually led to Paris Saint-Germain’s Nasser Al Khelaifi becoming chairman of the group. The ECA has also sought to expand to bring more clubs under its umbrella, although this involves stratification with many members not having full voting rights. The last elections ensured that the board consisted of representatives from such diverse clubs as Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Bayern Leverkusen, Celtic, Roma, Young Boys and Legia Warsaw. Although the ECA has become more diverse, it is still seen as an organization run by the big clubs, on behalf of the big clubs. The increasing influence of state clubs, in the form of PSG and City, has been noted by many stakeholders in the game.
Before that, in March 2023, FIFA renewed its Memorandum of Understanding with the ECA. This agreement was recognized in Tuesday’s statement, in which FIFA said it “would like to take this opportunity to declare for the record that it recognizes only one interlocutor and representative body for club football in Europe, namely the European Club Association”.
This is despite the fact, as illustrated by the meeting with the UEC in the first place, many clubs do not really feel fully represented when it comes to these discussions. Some are desperately dependent on Clearing House money and needed proper representation to raise this issue.
And yet the game’s imaginary ultimate power felt it had to explain this “encounter” publicly (again, their own quotes) and boost the ECA’s ego at the same time.
The optics are strange, to say the least. It is a most remarkable turn of events.
The independent both FIFA have asked for more context about the statement. It is understood that some within the ECA were spread through social media posts, giving the impression that the UEC was claiming recognition by FIFA.
The biggest question here is what this illustrates about how power works in modern football. Why does FIFA sign such memoranda when they are supposed to represent and regulate every element of the game? Why is a body like the UEC even necessary, if the interests of clubs are supposedly represented?
There is also a wider context, given the direction of the club game. The current ECA has effectively consolidated its power in the wake of the Super League crisis, with its fallout still leading to a vote on the much-discussed “Swiss system” of the Champions League. Since this new format guarantees more matches for the biggest clubs and brings with it a huge competition phase, it is simply seen as an institutionalized Super League. A Super Champions League, if you like.
The nature of the relationship means that the ECA almost becomes the de facto organizer of the competition. The same, meanwhile, is expected to happen with next year’s first new Club World Cup, with FIFA desperate to attract the big clubs to ensure its commercial viability. This in turn ensures that more money can be distributed among the voting member associations.
This all comes as a number of leagues – including the Premier League, which has members under the UEC – are discussing legal action against FIFA over the Club World Cup in the current football calendar.
Therefore, that statement of only 146 words said much more than intended.