Al-Khelaifi proposes global clubs body, takes veiled swipe at Infantino

COPENHAGEN, Sept 29 - European Football Clubs chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi on Tuesday unveiled plans to create a new global body representing clubs around the world and launched a thinly veiled attack on FIFA President Gianni Infantino without naming him.

The proposed "World Football Clubs" body is intended to give clubs a global institutional voice, in effect creating a seventh major constituency in world football alongside the six continental confederations, but representing clubs rather than national associations.

Al-Khelaifi did not spell out its formal status, governance, membership or timetable, nor say what powers it might seek within FIFA.

"EFC has become a global network and platform for clubs to connect to anyone," Al-Khelaifi told the EFC General Assembly in Copenhagen.

"We create benefits for clubs inside and outside of Europe," he added, noting that 857 players from European clubs had taken part in this year's 48-team World Cup, which amounts to nearly 70% of all players at the tournament.

"That is why now is the time to create World Football Clubs. Because every club around the world deserves to be represented; to have a voice, and a better chance to succeed."

Al-Khelaifi said clubs had become increasingly global through their players, coaches, owners, commercial partners, brands and fanbases while remaining rooted in their local communities, arguing that supporters could now follow their teams from Copenhagen to Cairo or New York to Tokyo.

The announcement represents the clearest indication yet in the speech that EFC wants to extend its model beyond Europe.

Formerly known as the European Club Association, EFC has grown rapidly in recent years. Al-Khelaifi said its membership had risen from 247 clubs in 2021 to more than 900 across 55 countries, with a stated ambition of reaching 1,000.

BARCELONA BACK, REAL TO RETURN TO EFC

He also announced that Barcelona had returned to the organisation and said Real Madrid was "in the process of returning", presenting the moves as evidence that major European clubs were again coalescing around a single representative structure.

Real Madrid's planned return, described by a source at the club as 'a gesture of goodwill' by Real, would mark a further step in its rapprochement with UEFA and EFC after years of conflict over the European Super League.

In February, the three parties reached an agreement in principle which they said would also resolve their legal disputes linked to the breakaway project once implemented.

Al-Khelaifi also said proposed governance reforms would give every EFC member a direct say on major decisions and allow all members to represent the organisation on UEFA, FIFA and other committees, while guaranteeing female representation across the board's subdivisions.

The global clubs proposal comes amid tensions over the balance of power in world football between FIFA, confederations, leagues, clubs and other stakeholders.

Al-Khelaifi used the speech to deliver what appeared to be a pointed message to Infantino, though he did not mention the FIFA president by name.

"It is really sad to see the situation today," he said.

"Instead of improving our game, we are wasting our time dealing with problems and issues. Football works when we listen to each other. When we are transparent between us. But most of all, when we are honest."

Reuters has approached FIFA for comment.

Al-Khelaifi repeatedly contrasted those tensions with EFC's relationship with UEFA, which he described as its "most important and trusted partner".

He said the EFC-UEFA joint venture UC3 would generate more than 20 billion euros ($5.67 billion) over the next four-year cycle, or more than five billion euros a season.

Around two billion euros, he said, would be distributed to clubs outside European competitions as well as to youth and women's football, while 233 million euros had been distributed to 901 clubs for releasing players for UEFA national-team competitions between 2020 and 2024.

"When UEFA and the clubs work hand in hand, football wins," Al-Khelaifi said, adding that disagreements between UEFA and clubs were dealt with "face to face" and ultimately resolved.

He then gave UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin an emphatic endorsement, calling on him to seek another term next year.

"Football needs great leaders like you and on behalf of the more than 900 clubs of EFC we ask you to stand for President again next year," he said. REUTERS