Paris (AFP)
Paris boss SG Nasser Al-Khelaïfi was named president of the European Association of Clubs (ECA) on Wednesday, taking the place left vacant by Andrea Agnelli (Juventus Turin), one of the strongmen of the aborted Super League project .
The Italian had resigned from his post at the ECA when launching, against all odds, his private competition project supposed to compete with the UEFA Champions League, killed in the bud 48 hours after its launch in the face of withdrawals from most of the founding clubs.
"The leadership, integrity and unity of our organization have never been more demanded than at this pivotal moment for European football", reacted the Qatari businessman in a statement, indicating that he wished "to strengthen the 'ECA in its role as the legitimate and unique voice of clubs in Europe ".
The boss of PSG, already reappointed Tuesday as ECA representative to the UEFA executive committee, was one of the only club bosses among the richest in Europe not to have been part of the Super League project, including twelve teams including Real Madrid, Juventus Turin and Liverpool.
The choice of "NAK" was also publicly greeted by the president of UEFA Aleksander Ceferin who told him on Tuesday that "with your help, we will save football".
The role of this former tennis player with rare words goes beyond PSG: minister without portfolio, he was one of the key men in the Qatari candidacy for the organization of the World Cup-2022, and heads the media giant beIN , one of the Champions League broadcasters.
This appointment in place of a strongman of the Super League project is one of the first consequences of a maddening start to the week on the football planet, while the question of possible sanctions targeting the twelve dissident clubs arises. more and more strongly within the authorities.
© 2021 AFP