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Exclusive: Barcelona Set to Rejoin the European Club Association

Exclusive: Barcelona Set to Rejoin the European Club Association

Barcelona are set to rejoin the European Club Association (ECA) four years on from the original launch of the ill-fated European Super League.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi hinted at Barcelona’s return during his opening speech at the ECA General Assembly in Rome, with Joan Laporta present.
Al-Khelaifi on Barcelona Rejoining ECA
“Today, I welcome back a special guest,” said ECA president Al-Khelaifi. “Sometimes friends can disagree, that is normal – but they always come back together for the greater good. He has brought his club back to life – both on the pitch with an amazing young team, and off the pitch with an amazing new stadium. The President of Barcelona, Joan Laporta – please join me in welcoming him back to the family.
“We are all here because football is more than our job – it is our shared passion, our love. And even though there are differences between us – big clubs, small clubs, different cultures, different stakeholders – differences should never mean conflict. There is so much conflict in this world today – we are all tired of conflict. It is our duty to build bridges. To bring people together. The power of football is bigger than anything – and football’s power to bring unity has never been needed more than it is today.”
Laporta has been one of the biggest advocates of the European Super League. Barcelona and Real Madrid were two of the founding members and both clubs have ties to A22 Sports Management, the promoters of the breakaway league. Al-Khelaifi has been one of the European Super League’s fiercest critics and continues to maintain the project is dead, even though organisers are still trying to relaunch the European Super League with UEFA backing. Laporta’s presence at the ECA General Assembly is significant and GMS understands the paperwork for Barcelona to rejoin Europe’s official club representative body is underway.
The ECA has also relaunched, changing its official name to European Football Clubs (EFC). The move is far more than just a new name and branding. Al-Khelaifi is trying to implement a new identity and culture. The EFC is fast approaching 1,000 clubs and Al-Khelaifi wants them to start working collaboratively to shape the future of European football. “We give a voice to over 820 clubs of all shapes and sizes all across Europe, including proudly having 146 women’s clubs in our family, more than ECA’s total number in 2008,” said Al-Khelaifi.
“We help drive significant commercial growth of UEFA and FIFA club competitions and also national team player release funding – both for members and non-members, inside and outside Europe, for men’s and women’s clubs.
“We help reform the sporting formats and access to the competitions our members play in, listening to feedback, making the competitions better, more inclusive and more engaging for fans.
“We help transform the levels of revenue distribution to smaller clubs and solidarity given to participating clubs – including over €440 million annual UCC solidarity and $250 million Club World Cup solidarity, all to support the football pyramid.
“We need to approach to future with optimism. We should not be scared of change. To do that, we need to continue growing our membership to be as inclusive as possible, most notably for all first division clubs in Europe.
“We will also create a new Football Department because, as clubs, we have the best coaches, players, sports directors, CEOs, fans…we have everybody, and we need to capture and utilise this talent and knowledge. European Football Clubs are also not corporations – Clubs are communities; they are people – and our new Fans Working Group will ensure supporters are much closer to our work.
“Innovation is everything to EFC’s future. We have over 820 clubs in our family – that is over 820 different sources of innovation. And while we are the global leader in club football, we should always push ourselves to be even better. To that end, I challenge every club to bring new ideas to EFC; to think out-of-the-box, to innovate and improve together.
“Our new name is a simple example of thinking differently. But also the new Champions League final 6pm kick-off time; cameras on referees; broadcasting commentary in multiple languages; the incredible “smart stadiums” we see in the US and now Europe. We need more of this.
“To accelerate this movement, we will be launching a new “EFC Centre of Innovation” – a think-tank made up of experts from industry and our clubs to develop new football-focused ideas and products that benefit all European football clubs. How can we use AI to enhance fan engagement, or new technology to prevent player injuries. How could data and new techniques in training improve sports performance. Our clubs already have answers and solutions to many of these topics – but we need to give them a bigger platform so all clubs benefit from our shared knowledge. Because, to stay on top, we have to push each other to constantly improve and change.”