The UEC welcomes today’s announcement by UEFA to adjust the criteria and current model of revenue distribution from UEFA Club Competitions starting in 2024/25
The UEC welcomes today’s announcement by UEFA to adjust the criteria and current model of revenue distribution from UEFA Club Competitions starting in 2024/25. The work of the UEC in the last months has positively contributed to the increase in Solidarity for non-participating clubs from 4% to 7% and represents a step forward towards a fairer system of revenue distribution and promotion of the rights of the majority of European clubs.
BRUSSELS, SEPTEMBER 06, 2023 – The Union of European Clubs (UEC) would like to thank our member clubs for their support in establishing and growing our initiative. Today’s announcement and increase in the Solidarity contribution is the result of strong support for our goals and the recognition of our hard work in the last months in which we have provided a platform and voice for the vast majority of clubs in Europe.
We recognise UEFA’s decision to increase the Solidarity contribution from UEFA Club Competitions for non-participating clubs as a step forward towards a fairer system of revenue distribution and promotion of the rights of more than 1.000 clubs the UEC aims to represent. The UEC also congratulates other stakeholders, particularly European Leagues, who have been advocating and campaigning for this for a number of years. Further improvements towards a more balanced European football ecosystem are necessary, with the urgent need for more work and improvements to the current governance model. The UEC is further reviewing the Solidarity Model to explore how other stakeholders, together with UEFA, can contribute to the preservation and enhancement of current mechanisms.
The ECA recently increased its ordinary voting membership to 140, however, more than 1,000 clubs are still excluded from the decision-making processes and are not entitled to any form of membership within ECA. This has escalated further with ECA excluding clubs from membership eligibility, due to their membership of the UEC, an organisation that provides voice to the unrepresented and inadequately represented clubs and gives them all equal voice in its membership and governance structures.
The UEC is very concerned with the fact that European football has not developed on the basis of an adequate governance model, without respecting the very basic principle of democracy that the UEC strongly advocates for, this being a one club, one vote principle. As a consequence, governance reforms are required in European football where all clubs in Europe deserve a voice in the decision-making processes that affect their ability to progress.
As our membership continues to grow and our organisation develops, the UEC is working on securing formal recognition as a recognised stakeholder in the European football system. Today’s positive step and announcement of an increase in Solidarity is just a start in our representation of the vast majority of aspiring clubs in Europe.
As we continue our journey and encouraged by the support we are receiving from clubs and stakeholders, the UEC is organising an event in Brussels, the European Professional Football Forum on 11th October, 2023 in which we will have a properly focused discussion on the rising challenges, the future governance model and new solidarity initiatives in European football. We look forward to the contributions of high-profile speakers representing clubs, stakeholders, European institutions and experts from the industry. The UEFA 2027-30 club competition cycle is just around the corner and elite clubs are already pushing to further expand the format of UEFA Club Competitions. All clubs should be informed about how new changes would impact them and allowed to vote for their preferred model accordingly.
In conclusion, the Union of European Clubs will continue to empower clubs who have no voice in the current structures and demand that their voice is heard and valued. The collective strength of the UEC has already proven to benefit those Clubs that were previously outside looking in. This is replicated across all the stakeholder groups where the UEC has been working collegiately since its launch with the membership of the UEC growing far beyond expectations. We will continue to contribute to the debate to introduce positive change to decision-making processes as we seek formal recognition as a recognised stakeholder in the European football eco-system.
