PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi Becomes New Chairman Of The European Club Association

Nasser Al-Khelaifi (Instagram @nasser_al_khelaifi)

JAKARTA - Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been elected as the new Chair of the European Club Association (ECA), the organization of European football clubs announced on Thursday morning WIB.

The chair of the ECA has been vacant since Sunday, April 18, since occupying figure Andrea Agnelli - who is also Juventus president - stepped down after announcing the formation of the European Super League, a midweek competition against the Champions League.

Juventus and 11 other clubs with the status of founders of the European Super League also immediately declared their resignation from ECA membership after the announcement of the project.

According to an announcement published on the ECA's official website, the organization's executive board also agreed to appoint Bayern Munich's Director of Legal Affairs, Human Resources, and Institutional Relations Michael Gerlinger as ECA First Deputy Chairman.

Gerlinger shared the deputy chair with three other officials, namely Edwin van der Sar (Ajax), Dariusz Mioduski (Legia Warsaw), and Aki Riihilahti (HJK Helsinki).

"I am honored to be appointed colleagues of the ECA Executive Board as chair", said Al-Khelaifi, commenting on his appointment.

"The leadership, integrity, and togetherness of this organization are urgently needed in this important moment of European football", he added.

In the same statement, the ECA also welcomed the news of the plan to cancel the continuation of the formation of the European Super League, following the resignation of six English clubs namely Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.

Then on Wednesday two teams from the city of Milan, AC Milan and Inter Milan, as well as Spanish club Atletico Madrid also announced their withdrawal, which later sparked doubts from Agnelli that the project could continue.

"The ECA welcomes the decision of our former members to discontinue the 'Super League' project, following a wave of harsh criticism from the football community and the general public", read the ECA statement.