June 7 – UEFA have welcomed the new mood of co-operation with Europe’s major leagues but have made it clear that giving them a greater say in the decision-making process affecting European football must be rubber-stamped by the entire UEFA membership.
A Memorandum of Understanding between the European Professional Football Leagues and UEFA expired in March and EPFL chairman Lars-Christer Olsson, himself a former UEFA chief executive, said at the time that the two sides were still some way off forging a new accord.
But the EPFL on Tuesday announced that a fresh deal had now been struck, effectively ending the threat of domestic league games being scheduled on the same days as UEFA club competitions.
Under the arrangement, the EPFL will have a voting voice on UEFA’s executive committee and other bodies, just as Europe’s major clubs do under the umbrella of the European Club Association. To accommodate this change, the UEFA statutes would have to be changed, most likely when European football’s governing body meets in September.
In a statement, UEFA welcomed the prospective new MoU and said it was “looking forward to including representation of the EPFL in its decision-making bodies – subject to approval by the UEFA Congress. “
Commenting on the new rapprochement, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said: “I am pleased that we have reached a new agreement with the European Professional Football Leagues. It is our conception of good governance that our key stakeholders are included in decision-making processes.”
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