The Executive Committee of European Club Association (ECA) held a meeting in Doha on the sidelines of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 - where 113 European club players are representing their national teams - nearly 20% of the total number of players in the tournament.
The meeting was attended by HE AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, HE President of Qatar Football Association Jassim Rashid Al Buainain, FIFA Secretary General ad interim Mattias Grafstrm, and European Leagues President Pedro Proença.
After the welcome speeches, the ExCo was given an update by the ECA Chairman on the continued rapid growth of ECA which now counts 486 members, an increase of 83% since start of the 2023/24 season, with 36 new members joining since the last ExCo in December 2023 in Copenhagen.
Commenting after the meeting ECA Chairman Nasser Al Khelaifi, said: "These gatherings of the ECA's senior leadership are so important as the organisation continues to grow at a rapid pace and we approach 500 clubs. ECA's remit now runs much further than just Europe as our MoU with FIFA demonstrates by benefitting clubs globally via mechanisms such as the club benefits programme (distributing revenues from the FIFA Mens World Cup to all clubs releasing players).
"It is vitally important for football that we continue to build positive relations and partnerships with all stakeholders in the interests of all - based on win-win partnerships."
Reflecting on the ECJ judgment of 21 December 2023, the Exco reaffirmed its strong belief that football is a social contract and not a legal one a belief that is validated by all the progressive reform work that ECA is doing within its own membership base and with legitimate stakeholders of football to develop the game positively and progressively based on sporting merit, inclusiveness, open competition, and solidarity.
