31 March 2015
The 14th ECA General Assembly was held in Stockholm on Monday and Tuesday, with Juventus represented by president Andrea Agnelli, CEO Giuseppe Marotta and chief revenue officer Francesco Calvo.
It was a highly productive two days of meetings, with the Bianconeri officials able to exchange ideas with some of the most important figures in European football, besides leading authorities such as EU sports commissioner Tibor Navracsics.
On Monday president Agnelli was joined by ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Mr Navracsics for an open and constructive debate on some of the key issues regarding professional football: good governance first and foremost, but also Financial Fair Play, third-party ownership, development of social dialogue and relations between clubs and players.
The meeting ended with the signing of a partnership agreement formalising ECA's support towards the 2015 European Week of Sport, an initiative aimed at increasing the number of people regularly involved in sports activities.
The General Assembly was also the opportunity to renew the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UEFA until 31 May 2022. The agreement not only reinforces the already strong partnership between ECA and UEFA but also sets a new benchmark for relations between clubs and national associations, providing clubs with a greater role in top-level governance and an increased share of funding.
The MoU also establishes that two ECA representatives will participate in the UEFA Executive Committee, increases the role of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee, and introduces a new mechanism for the distribution of competition revenue among clubs.
Furthermore, the signing of a collaboration agreement with FIFA until 31 December 2022 means the ECA will enjoy an increasingly active role in the decision-making process at a global level. The agreement governs the distribution of club benefits generated by the FIFA World Cup and provides the ECA with a mandate to promote clubs' interests at FIFA level, for example in the drawing up of the international match calendar.
In addition, the Club Protection Programme remains in force and will in the future also cover international women's football.
