Battle for future of European football intensifies with Belgian club barred from ECA | European club football
The Belgian membership Union Saint-Gilloise had been blocked from renewing their European Membership Affiliation (ECA) membership after signing as much as a brand new physique that represents small and medium-sized groups, the Guardian has been instructed. Saint-Gilloise had been knowledgeable this yr that their function within the nascent Union of European Golf equipment (UEC) would violate statutes drawn up by the ECA, a far bigger organisation that Uefa legitimises as the only real entity representing golf equipment’ pursuits. In impact it meant they had been thrown out. It’s an instance of deep faultlines growing within the continental recreation as groups past the elite name for a higher say within the sport’s future course. In September 2022 Saint-Gilloise, a Brussels-based success story who reached final season’s Europa League quarter-finals after progressing from the decrease divisions, grew to become members of the “ECA community”. It’s the lowest tier of membership, basically giving them a voice within the room and entry to the ECA’s wider assets however no voting rights. After qualifying for this season’s competitors – they’re in Liverpool’s group – and attaining Belgium’s third-highest Uefa coefficient they had been invited to change into “extraordinary members” within…