March 13 – The European Leagues have stressed the need for a new redistribution model in European club football to address financial polarisation as a matter of urgency.
Polarisation and redistribution of European revenues, following the UEC’s proposal, were high on the agenda at the general assembly of the European Leagues in the Bulgarian capital. European Leagues chair Claudius Schäfer said that tackling the growing financial and sporting polarisation in the game was the key objective for his organisation in the years ahead.
He explained: “International football revenues are growing at a significantly faster pace than domestic league revenues. There is an ongoing process of cannibalisation of domestic league value – and we cannot ignore it.”
With a new rights cycle coming up and the prospect of a biennial Club World Cup, Schaefer acknowledged that the leagues cannot hold back in forming a sustainable plan for the future, one that may look beyond mere solidarity. “It is an urgent situation,” said Schäfer. “Again, it is strategic objective number one to find better resolutions. We are talking about revenue redistribution, we are not just talking about solidarity. Can we have change?
“We have financial polarisation that leads the sporting polarisation. In the end, it is a problem for competitive balance. Our objective number is to protect and enhance competitive balance.”
The leagues boss however pointed out that his organization don’t have a proper seat at the table on a global level, but acknowledged that UEFA has a stakeholder process in place. Schäfer sits on the UEFA executive committee as representatives of the European League.
“We have to make UEFA accountable. It’s the governing body of Europe and it’s in the statutes that solidarity – not solidarity in the sense of European – is one of the main objective, to see an ecosystem that is working for everyone and not only for a handful of clubs. It will be a challenge.”
Redistribution plans might hit a roadblock with the European Football Clubs (EFC) body, closely allied to UEFA through the UC3 venture, and where Europe’s elite clubs hold the power. They will not be keen on giving up on millions of revenue from European competition to platform wider redistribution.
He said the leagues will craft their own redistribution proposal before stakeholders talks with UEFA and EFC.
European Leagues general secretary Alberto Colombo added: “The train of polarisation has left the station, but that is why we want to have a different approach. We are asking for a substantial change in the way the revenue distribution is applied in international competition.”
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