SEVILLA FC REPRESENTED AT THE XXVI EUROPEAN CLUB ASSOCIATION GENERAL ASSEMBLY

08/09/2021
The ceremony was held in person, and the club's Vice President, José María del Nido Carrasco as well as CEO, José María Cruz were both present.

Sevilla FC was represented at the European Club Association's General Assembly in Geneva this week. The club's Vice President, José Maria del Nido Carrasco, as well as the CEO, José María Cruz, were part of several meetings, discussing topics that varied from establishing a new financial fair play scheme, better relations with UEFA, and the threats of the European Super League. 
 
The assembly included welcome speeches from the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin, and also the ECA president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who emphasised the need for greater financial stability. 'We're working closely with UEFA to create a fund worth billions of euros which would allow clubs from all levels to recover from the pandemic and its financial impacts...  "Estamos trabajando mano a mano con la UEFA para poner en marcha un fondo de deuda de miles de millones de euros que permita a los clubes de todos los niveles acelerar su recuperación tras la devastación económica de la COVID…An emergency fund by UEFA and the ECA is also being considered for future crises, and we're looking to redistribute around 50 million euros a year more which can help benefit smaller clubs.' 

Other challenges that the ECA face are 'the new rules regarding Financial Fair Play which would allow a stable and competitive pyramid structure; establishing a new marketing model for European competitions which can improve commercial management' and adjusting the fixtures calendar because 'we are currently putting players' health in danger.'

Aleksander Ceferin also stated that the aim is to work on a new financial system that 'benefits European football.' He also added that 'Financial Fair Play needs to be a stronger system which allows direct control and financial accountability.'

The UEFA President also used the meeting with the ECA members, of which Sevilla FC is a member, to reiterate his opposition to the possibility of having a World Cup tournament every two years, emphasising that it's 'quality, not quantity'; while Nasser Al-Khelaifi did the same when mentioning the European Super League: 'I don't want to speak about it for too long. Together we want to protect European football for everyone: the players, the clubs, the leagues, the national teams, and above all, the fans. We have confidence in President Ceferin because he stood up and spoke out against the scheme.'

Miguel Ángel Gil, Atlético de Madrid CEO, Daniel Levy, Tottenham Hotspur chairman, and Alessandro Antonello, Inter Milan CEO, were all elected to be members of the Executive Board.

The 2021 ECA awards brought the 26th edition of the General Assembly to a close, which was held in person for the first time since September 2019 as a result of the Covid pandemic which forced the previous ones to be held virtually.