Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi also serves as chairman of the European Club Association, and he did not hold back from a trio of clubs still pursuing the European Super League on Monday.
Addressing the ECA’s general assembly, Al-Khelaifi blasted Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Juventus for not abandoning the idea as its Premier League, Serie A, and La Liga peers had done soon after the announcement of the breakaway league’s founding.
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“I will not spend much time talking about the 18th of April, and the ‘not-so-Super League’ because I do not like to focus on fabulists and failures,” Al-Khelaifi said, later adding, “And while the three rebel cubs waste energies, twist narratives, and continue to shout at the sky, the rest of us are moving forward and focusingevery energy on building a better future for European football – together as one.”
Al-Khelaifi said the ECA is working with UEFA to help stabilizing European club football and used his speech touch on their plan, which includes
- “a multi-billion Euro debt fund to allow clubs of all tiers to accelerate their recovery from the financial devastation of COVID.”
- “The ECA has also championed a separate initiative to re-distribute around 50 million Euros per year more of solidarity money for the benefit of smaller clubs not participating in European Club Competition.”
- a change to the international calendar: “This needs honest engagement, not unilateral and self-interested decisions. Over-scheduled and disrupted matches put the players’ health and wellbeing at risk – and the Clubs bear all the risk.”
- fighting racism and sexism in football while promoting the women’s game: “Men’s European Football will invest more in the UEFA Women’s Champions League every year – this needs to be the first step of many.”