Does European football have a problem with representation?
UEFA’s latest benchmarking report found that 724 clubs played in their countries’ top divisions in 2021-22; so how can an organisation with 245 members possibly claim to represent all of the continent’s clubs?
The European Club Association emerged in 2008 as a replacement for the old G14 bloc of leading clubs that had lobbied for greater power in European football and has surrendered none of that body’s power.
The ECA membership roster has grown by more than 100 clubs since its formation and all of UEFA’s 55 members have at least one ordinary member, but this does not always confer voting rights. Many members are only associates with no chance to influence decisions at the ECA, which is still dominated by the elite clubs behind the G14 that now occupy the majority of places on UEFA’s influential club committee.
At the recent ECA congress, chairman Nasser Al Khelaifi claimed: “Under the new ECA, we are more creative, more
