European Clubs Association Chairman Andrea Agnelli has urged the media to be patient and let the association continue its consultation process on reforms for UEFA club competitions that will come to effect as from 2024.

Agnelli was speaking at the end of a two-day Special Assembly that gathered representatives of 156 ECA member clubs representing 48 countries in Malta, including officials from Birkirkara FC and Valletta.

Reforms initially proposed by the ECA last month triggered fierce criticism from the continents domestic leagues.

The proposals envisaged a single, three-tiered European competition with internal promotion and relegation, effectively making it harder for smaller clubs to break into European competition.

UEFA were working on similar reforms, with plans to reshape the Champions League into four pools of eight teams, with only four of the 32 participants qualifying through their national leagues.

Football leagues across Europe including Germany’s Bundesliga and the French league have rejected the proposals, with some offering alternatives.

“ECA’s fundamental belief is that clubs in all European countries who are good enough to develop and play regularly in European competitions should have the chance to do so,” Agnelli said.

“Personally, I think that what is of paramount importance in this discussion is that we implement a system that has the development of football across the whole Europe at heart. Before this meeting, a lot of clubs came with a lot of scepticism and fear, but I think the biggest satisfaction is that all this fear has been brushed away.

“We still don’t have any answers and still there is still a long process of discussion in the next few months that will involve all stake holders. On September 11, we will try to address all issues in a tri-lateral meeting with the European Leagues Association and the UEFA Committee to try and find a solution for the interest of European football.

“I think everyone has to take a step back and instead of looking at the matter from a local point of view we have to look at it from a European perspective by putting on the shoes of the other countries, especially those who don’t have a lot of access to European competitions.

It is understood that the new reforms being proposed by the ECA will benefit Maltese clubs who will have the opportunity to face opponents of almost the same level, as happened in the newly-launched UEFA Nations League. This gives them the chance of making further inroads into European competitions and thus pocketing a bigger participation fee that they would be able to invest into the clubs.

“At present, the current system of UEFA club competition is not working well for clubs in countries like Malta,” ECA vice-chairman Aki Riihilahti said.

“I speak regularly with John Borg, of Birkirkara FC, and Valletta’s Joe Attard about the realities of Maltese football. The only way forward for clubs here is that they have the opportunity to play more relevant games, especially on the continent, that brings with them experience and more importantly better infrastructure.

“Added to that, if we maintain the current system there will be an even bigger problems in our academies as young players will not see any prospect of playing European football and interest in the Beautiful Game will slowly, slowly die.

“I hope all stakeholders in this discussion will see the whole picture and not just their needs.”

Edwin van Der Sar (right) talks to the media alongside Andrea Agnelli. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Ajax run

On his part, Edwin Van Der Sar, a vice-chairman at ECA, said that Ajax’s run in this season’s Champions League was a breath of fresh air to European football and he said that it was important to see more clubs making the breakthrough in major European competitions.

“Ajax’s run in this year’s competition caught the imagination of many fans,” Van der Sar, who is the sporting director at Ajax, said.

“For clubs in Holland and Belgium it’s very important to be able to compete in major competitions as it gives the opportunity to the players to express themselves more.

“Ajax’s run did a world of good to European football and I sincerely hope that in the future we can provide a good system that will provide the possibility to teams such as Porto, Galatasaray or Legia Warsaw to name a few that can make their impact in these competitions and that will enable them to have more financial sustainability and an opportunity to grow even further.

“We need to listen to the views of big and small clubs and try to find a possible solution that is for the good of the whole European movement.”