The European Clubs Association (ECA) on Wednesday demanded "open and transparent" discussions with FIFA president Gianni Infantino over his plans for new, or enlarged, global club and international competitions. The governing body of world football is creating a Global Nations League for national teams and has proposed expanding the Club World Cup to 24 teams.
The club association, made up of representatives of every league in Europe, issued a statement after a session in Warsaw. It echoed an argument made by UEFA after a meeting which ECA attended in Lyon in May, and said it "expects discussions to be undertaken in an open and transparent and using formal channels of engagement between ECA and FIFA."
"It is essential that ECA is at the heart and fully involved in shaping decisions which will determine the game's future," the statement quoted the president of ECA, Andrea Agnelli, who is also president of Juventus, as saying. The ECA wants reform of the football calendar.
"The current model needs modernising with special focus required around reviewing the total number of games, release periods, confederation tournaments...and a re-balancing between European and domestic club competitions," said the statement.