Artjoms Milovs, President of FK Rīgas Futbola Skola (Latvia)

“To protect the competitive balance within the small leagues the fair distribution of solidarity payments should be promoted. We support the idea of the wider access to the European competition for the clubs all over Europe, but it is important not to damage the local championships as well and keep all European competitions opened for all clubs.”

Vasily Kiknadze, CEO of Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)

“FC Lokomotiv opposes the proposed changes for UCC. The UEFA Champions League is a fundamental tournament for clubs of Eastern Europe and the best teams of their national championships strive to take part in this tournament. One of the main sources of income for clubs from Eastern Europe is income from participation in the UEFA Champions League. The UEFA Champions League is always a huge and most awaited celebration for fans for all over the year. By changing the qualification principles of getting into the UEFA Champions League, the organizers may destroy Eastern European football.”

Athletic Club, Club Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla Futbol Club, Real Sociedad de Futbol, Valencia Club de Futbol, Villareal Club de Futbol, Málaga Club de Futbol (Spain)

“The clubs of LaLiga and members of ECA, sincerely believe that we are facing the biggest threat in the history of European football in recent years for clubs and national leagues.”

Tomas Zorn, CEO of Spartak Moscow (Russia)

“FC Spartak Moscow opposes the proposed changes in the UEFA European club competitions. The participation in UEFA Champions League has not only a fundamental financial aspect that the European clubs are aiming, but also an immense sportive goal for every professional athlete. By creating an exclusive inner circle of participants of the UEFA Champions League, the organizers exclude the majority of the European clubs from a top tournament and all the benefits which come along with it.”

Assaf Ben Dov, CEO of Maccabi Haifa Football Club (Israel)

“We defend the idea to increase the solidarity payments coming from UEFA Club Competitions. This is the sole way to protect competitive balance in our domestic league. We are of course happy when Israeli clubs qualify to UCC but the revenues their receive from UEFA are distorting the sporting equilibrium in our national championship. We have to revert this trend for the good of all clubs and not solely those which plays UCC and/or qualifications rounds on a regular basis.”

Michel Louwagie, CEO of KAA Gent (Belgium)

“KAA Gent briefly formulates the position of club with regard to the new European formats that are planned for the period 2020-2024:

– Concerning the introduction of Europa League 2, where it is planned to register an additional 48 clubs, KAA Gent believes that Belgium deserves at least 2 extra places.

– Regarding the Champions League, KAA Gent is opposed to a (partially) closed competition.”

Peter Peters, Member of the Managing Board of FC Schalke 04 for Finance and Administration (Germany)

“Let’s start on a blank page, nothing should be set in stone. We have clearly felt that the vast majority of clubs in all countries reject this proposed reform, and there were clear criticisms from many smaller nations. Anything that could harm the status of the Bundesliga is not something I am going to agree to. We have to defend ourselves against it.”

Vasily Kiknadze, CEO of Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)

“FC Lokomotiv opposes the proposed changes for UCC. The UEFA Champions League is a fundamental tournament for clubs of Eastern Europe and the best teams of their national championships strive to take part in this tournament. One of the main sources of income for clubs from Eastern Europe is income from participation in the UEFA Champions League. The UEFA Champions League is always a huge and most awaited celebration for fans for all over the year. By changing the qualification principles of getting into the UEFA Champions League, the organizers may destroy Eastern European football.”

Oliver Mintzlaff, CEO of RB Leipzig (Germany)

“The Champions League must not become a closed society. It is important that the clubs can continue to qualify for the international competitions via the Bundesliga. Especially the past season has shown how exciting the fight for the European Cup places can be. This “fair competition” must be maintained. If this is eliminated, it would be something that we at RB Leipzig – but the entire Bundesliga also sees it that way – cannot support.”

Rudi Völler, Managing Director of Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)

“That would be terrible and fatal. That is the death sentence of football if you no longer have to qualify for European competitions via domestic leagues. Nobody want that. It’s terrible that some clubs are being made permanent and this must never happen.”

Linz: Dr. Siegmund Gruber, President of LASK (Austria)

“The proposed reform serves solely to perpetuate and expand the dominance of the major European clubs. Clubs from smaller countries and leagues do not have a real chance with this system”

Wanja Greuel, CEO of BSC Young Boys (Switzerland)

“For the very first time several clubs from all over Europe are stating their firm opposition to the current proposal presented by UEFA and ECA. I feel, that the broad majority of clubs will resist against this reform and will fight so to implement a different European football model which could benefit ALL clubs in Europe and not solely the elite European clubs”.

Marc Ingla, CEO of Lille Olympique Sporting Club (LOSC) (France)

“The breaking format proposed by UEFA and supported by the elite clubs would affect negatively the value of the domestic leagues. The national leagues and their clubs play a fundamental role in the society thanks to their daily commitments and investments in the respective local communities. It’s imperative to develop a football ecosystem where both local and international football could grow together in sustainable way. A de-facto closed Superleague with much more matches and match-days would destroy the pure essence of our game and the genuine rivalries of domestic football which drive the passion of our fans every weekend.”

Athletic Club, Club Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla Futbol Club, Real Sociedad de Futbol, Valencia Club de Futbol, Villareal Club de Futbol, Málaga Club de Futbol (Spain)

“The clubs of LaLiga and members of ECA, sincerely believe that we are facing the biggest threat in the history of European football in recent years for clubs and national leagues.”

Olivier Létang, president of Stade Rennais (France)

“This project seems very unfair to me. The idea is to create a closed league but where is the sport in that? What about sports equity? We cannot accept this type of reform and I do not think that this is in line with European sport culture and history.”

Bruno Venanzi, President of Standard de Liège (Belgium)

“Standard de Liège has taken note of the European Club Competitions reform plans. Standard de Liège wishes to keep a competition open to the various Clubs that have performed in their domestic competitions (and not an almost closed competition as suggested) and is concerned about the number of additional matches that would result. »

Frédéric Longuépée, President of Girondins de Bordeaux (France)

“What will be the sporting interest of our league if it no longer allows us to qualify for the Champions League. We devalue the Ligue 1 product, and therefore the TV rights. For clubs like ours, this is a real problem.”

Tomas Zorn, CEO of Spartak Moscow (Russia)

“FC Spartak Moscow opposes the proposed changes in the UEFA European club competitions. The participation in UEFA Champions League has not only a fundamental financial aspect that the European clubs are aiming, but also an immense sportive goal for every professional athlete. By creating an exclusive inner circle of participants of the UEFA Champions League, the organizers exclude the majority of the European clubs from a top tournament and all the benefits which come along with it.”

Bernard Caiazzo, President of AS St Etienne (France)

“Several clubs are aligned in the efforts to block the reform. This is an important first step for the majority of clubs, who worry that their championships will lose value if a semi-closed European league model is put in place. This is an essential principal for all future models of European competition”.

João Carvalho, SC Braga Board Member (Portugal)

“First of all we regret the late timing of the disclosure of information by ECA and UEFA. With regard to the reform, now that we have information on what the ECA and UEFA has come up with, we need to consider whether it will be actually good for European football both at international and national league level or whether it will only benefit a limited number of very rich clubs in Europe. In the latter case, we oppose to the reform. We truly hope that ECA and UEFA really listen the clubs and accept their contributions in relation to this matter, for the good of football”.

Claudio Lotito, President of SS Lazio (Italy)

“Several European Clubs and the majority of Italian clubs are against the reform presented by the ECA. We have to stop the current reform plans and we have to seat with all stakeholders and start the whole project from scratch. We need to guarantee the long-term sporting as well economic sustainability of both the national championship and the European competitions”.

Roland Heri, CEO of FC Basel 1893 AG (Switzerland)

“The Football Fans are our most important stakeholders. Several Fans groups in Europe raised their voices against the reform proposals presented by the ECA and UEFA. The passion of our Fans is mainly driven by the domestic games we do play at domestic level in Switzerland. We feel the obligation to listen their opinion on this important matter”.

Nicolas Holveck, Deputy CEO of AS Monaco (France)

“It is important to debate on the way UEFA will distribute revenues among the Clubs. We believe it is important to implement a fairer distribution model among participating and non-participating clubs so to guarantee the proper competitive balance both in Europe and at league level. We can’t discuss about the format of competitions without any information regarding how the money will be distributed”.

Stefano Campoccia, Vice President Udinese Calcio S.p.A. (Italy)

“It’s a value for us the safeguard of our national tournament, both on a sporting and on a business base. We will not accept and endorse any kind of reform that could negatively impact the appeal and audience of the National tournaments, as the proposed closed format of a new competition for elite clubs “

Pedro Proenca, President of Liga Portugal

“Creating a semi-closed European competition would wreck national leagues. This is not the way forward. We believe strong and vibrant leagues are the secret for a strong football industry, appealing for clubs and their fans”

Eredivisie’s vision for the future of UEFA Club Competitions post 2024 - 11.07.2019

SPFL sets principles to improve and drive progressive change for European Clubs Competitions- 16.08.2019

All 20 Premier League clubs expressed significant concerns about reported proposals for changing format and qualification criteria of UEFA club - 05.06.2019 competitions from 2024/25

The Swedish League and all clubs of Allsvenskan and Superettan reject the UEFA club competition proposals - 03.06.2019

The Danish Superliga reject the vision for UEFA club competitions - 29.05.2019

UEFA reform of European club competitions needs more discussions - 14.06.2019

The Czech Football League rejects the proposal of the new model of UEFA European Competitions - 13.08.2019

The Pro League identifies priorities on UEFA Club Competitions - 06.08.2019

The Swiss Football League and its members unanimously reject the vision - 28.05.2019

French clubs oppose Champions League reform plans - 15.05.2019

Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs reject current reform proposals for international club competitions - 15.05.2019

LFV and its clubs unanimously reject the new proposal for the UEFA international club competitions - 10.07.2019

Lega Serie A opposes proposed reform of UEFA Club Competitions - 11.06.2019

IPFL Rejects the UEFA Club Competitions Proposals - 15.07.2019

The clubs of LaLiga and members of ECA (ordinary and associated) reject the proposal of the new model of UEFA European Competitions

Artjoms Milovs, President of FK Rīgas Futbola Skola (Latvia)

“To protect the competitive balance within the small leagues the fair distribution of solidarity payments should be promoted. We support the idea of the wider access to the European competition for the clubs all over Europe, but it is important not to damage the local championships as well and keep all European competitions opened for all clubs.”