After a meeting with Andrea Agnelli, the chairman of the European club association ECA, representatives of the Bundesliga clubs drew a positive conclusion in the dispute over the planned European cup reform. Bayern Munich’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge preceded them.
“I am convinced that in the end the best option for football will be found and that the Bundesliga will not suffer any damage,” Bayern Munich’s CEO Rummenigge told the kicker.
In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Michael Gerlinger, who is the Bavarian Director for Law and at the same time a member of the ECA Executive Board, added: “We thank Andrea Agnelli and are pleased that he has understood the German position so that it can then be taken into account in an open process”.
The ECA intends to stimulate a further exchange on the subject at its General Assembly on 6-7 June in Malta. The fact is that the ECA supports UEFA’s reform initiative.
The plans of the European umbrella organisation to hold the international competition from 2024 in a kind of three-tier league model with numerous fixed places for top clubs and largely without sporting qualification in the national championships had recently met with fierce resistance.
At the beginning of May, the “European Leagues”, the association of 36 European professional leagues, initially turned against the concept. In the previous week, the members of the DFL also spoke out against it. The leagues and many clubs fear a massive devaluation of the national competitions and a further cementing of the conditions due to the expanded competition.
