Nasser Al Khelaifi tells doubters of European football model they were wrong

The ECA held its General Assembly in Vienna

Nasser Al Khelaifi, left, says Europe’s top clubs now have a far greater say over their own commercial destiny (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Archive)

European clubs now enjoy greater affluence and influence after rejecting the Super League breakaway, the president of the European Club Association has said.

Nasser Al Khelaifi, who is also the president of Paris Saint-Germain who resisted calls to join the hugely controversial breakaway competition last April – hailed the joint commercial and marketing venture established between the ECA and European football’s governing body Uefa which is set to make the sale of Champions League rights in the first cycle post-2024 the most lucrative yet.

Revenue from Europe’s club competitions in 2024-27 is understood to be projected at five billion US dollars (£3.8bn) per season, up from 3.6bn US dollars (£2.7bn) per season in the current cycle.

Al Khelaifi says the orchestrators of the Super League were prepared to walk away from the mainstream of European football for a fraction of that.

“We have seen an amazing 39 per cent increase in the forecasted commercial value of the men’s Uefa club competitions for the post-2024 cycle, and while we still need to explore additional untapped revenue streams together, this is a historic increase in revenue,” the Qatari told the ECA’s General Assembly in Vienna.

“This deal also proves that the doubters of the European football model were wrong. More influence and more affluence for clubs, more progressive governance and more European togetherness – I remember some people trying to tear down the system for a fraction of these things last year.”

Al Khelaifi described the joint ECA and Uefa process to identify marketing partners to sell commercial rights for the European competitions as “more than a tender – it represented a tectonic shift in the role that clubs now play in the decisions that shape European football, and a new progressive governance model for European football with the clubs determining their destiny in partnership with Uefa”.

The threat of the Super League has not entirely receded. LaLiga president Javier Tebas claimed earlier this month that the presidents of the three clubs still supporting the project – Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid – met in Turin earlier this year to discuss a new-look Super League project.

ECA and representatives from other continental and global groups are set to discuss a number of key issues at the Assembly over the next two days, including the format of European club competitions post-2024.

The ECA is keen to maintain the planned provision of two Champions League qualification places based on historical co-efficient, but Europe’s top leagues – including the Premier League – are concerned about the impact of teams leapfrogging rivals in their domestic tables to reach European competition.

The new Financial Fair Play regime will also be discussed in Vienna.

From 2025, clubs are set to have to limit spending on transfers, wages and agents’ fees at 70 per cent of their revenue, to be phased in over a two-year period up to that point.

Sanctions for failing to stay within the regulations are set to include points deductions and exclusion from European competition.

Plans are expected to be finalised at Uefa’s executive committee meeting on 7 April.

Al Khelaifi added: “These new rules are designed to ensure costs are better controlled, while still encouraging investment that will secure our game’s long-term sustainable future.

“Uefa has incorporated many of ECA’s comments – made on behalf of all 240-plus clubs – including how the new rules need to be simple, fair, transparent and enforceable; and we look forward to the new system being implemented shortly.”