Daniel Levy to represent Premier League in European Club Association
By Tom Gott
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is expected to be named as the new Premier League representative in the European Club Association.
England's top flight had been faced up by outgoing Manchester United executive Ed Woodward, who resigned from his position in April amid the Super League chaos which swept over European football for a few days.
The battle to replace Woodward had come down to Levy and Manchester City's Ferran Soriano, but the ECA confirmed that it is the Spurs chief who has taken the spot on the board.
It is believed that Levy ended up standing unopposed, with Soriano pulling out before the final vote after learning that the Spurs chairman had gained significant support from the majority of the 'Big Six'.
Soriano, whose candidacy had been supported by Chelsea, will work with the ECA as an observer on the board, but it's Levy who will be calling the shots and flying the flag for the English sides.
Levy had resigned from the ECA back when Spurs were part of the Super League plans, but alongside eight of the 12 sides involved - Arsenal, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Inter, Liverpool, Manchester City and United - apologised and were welcomed back into the association.
He has been joined on the board by Atletico's Miguel Angel Gil and Inter's Alessandro Antonello, completing the reintegration of the Super League apologists.
Levy will now help the ECA on their mission to improve the European game, with chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi confirming in his address on Monday that the organisation's primary goal will be to help clubs stabilise after COVID-19.
"The first priority is to bring urgent financial stability to European football," the PSG chief said. "Even before COVID, many financial problems affected football. However, the pandemic has magnified them all.
"We are all facing this new COVID reality today – every single club is feeling the pain; big clubs and small clubs, from all parts of Europe. During the two pandemic seasons, there has been billions of losses in revenues in European football – and we are not through the woods this season either. If we don’t act soon, the damage will be impossible to reverse.
"The ECA is working hand-in-hand with UEFA to put in place a multi-billion Euro debt fund to allow clubs of all tiers to accelerate their recovery from the financial devastation of COVID. We know the need from our members is significant; and we have fought strongly for this project."