Al-Khelaifi proposes global clubs body, takes veiled swipe at Infantino

COPENHAGEN, Sept 29 : European Football Clubs chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi on Tuesday unveiled plans to create a new global body representing clubs around the world and launched a thinly veiled attack on FIFA President Gianni Infantino without naming him.

The proposed "World Football Clubs" body is intended to give clubs a global institutional voice, in effect creating a seventh major constituency in world football alongside the six continental confederations, but representing clubs rather than national associations.

Al-Khelaifi did not spell out its formal status, governance, membership or timetable, nor say what powers it might seek within FIFA.

"EFC has become a global network and platform for clubs to connect to anyone," Al-Khelaifi told the EFC General Assembly in Copenhagen.

"We create benefits for clubs inside and outside of Europe," he added, noting that 857 players from European clubs had taken part in this year's 48-team World Cup, which amounts to nearly 70 per cent of all players at the tournament.

"That is why now is the time to create World Football Clubs. Because every club around the world deserves to be represented; to have a voice, and a better chance to succeed."

Al-Khelaifi said clubs had become increasingly global through their players, coaches, owners, commercial partners, brands and fanbases while remaining rooted in their local communities, arguing that supporters could now follow their teams from Copenhagen to Cairo or New York to Tokyo.

The announcement represents the clearest indication yet in the speech that EFC wants to extend its model beyond Europe.

Formerly known as the European Club Association, EFC has grown rapidly in recent years. Al-Khelaifi said its membership had risen from 247 clubs in 2021