UEFA urged to increase payments to non-elite clubs to ‘address competitive balance' issues
Football lobby group the Union of European Clubs (UEC) wants UEFA to set aside five per cent of its £3.7billion ($4.9bn) annual revenue from club competitions to reward all the teams that help to develop the stars of the show.
The Player Development Reward (PDR), the UEC's first significant proposal, would be shared between European clubs based on the minutes played in UEFA competitions and prize money earned by players they have trained earlier in their careers.
Advertisement
The 36 teams that qualify for the league phase of the Champions League would not be eligible for the payments, as they already receive huge sums in prize money.
If the idea had been in operation last season, nearly 1,500 clubs across the continent would have received PDR payments, with over 400 clubs getting more than €100,000 (£84,500, $112,400) each. Dutch side Ajax would have topped the payments table with a windfall of more than £4.5m.
German duo Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen and Portugal's Sporting would have all earned nearly £3m, while Chelsea would have been England's top PDR beneficiary with a cheque for more than £2.7m.
But, at the other end of the spectrum, English non-league side Bury would have earned nearly £13,000, while Serbian amateur team FK Palilulac's budget would have been topped up by £845.
This season's payments would have included £650,000 for French side Bordeaux for their part in the development of Barcelona star Jules Kounde, £271,000 to Italy's Pavia, Inter star Francesco Acerbi's first pro club, and a very welcome £220,000 for Scotland's St Mirren, where Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn played until he was 20.
The UEC, which was set up as a counterweight to UEFA's preferred club lobby group, the European Club Association (ECA), in 2023, has already presented the concept to the European Commission and believes PDR payments should complement, not replace, the solidarity payments that UEFA makes to clubs that do not participate in its competitions.
The solidarity pot has recently grown to £260m, seven per cent of the total that UEFA earns from the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and Super Cup. That money is shared between hundreds of clubs in UEFA's 55 member associations but there is no mechanism to reward those clubs with strong academies or incentivise others to develop talent.
Advertisement
UEFA's own costs for running the competitions account for nearly nine per cent of the combined revenues, with three per cent allocated to clubs that take part in the qualifying rounds. But by far the biggest slice, 75 per cent, or £2.8bn, is shared between the 108 clubs that reach the league phases of the three main competitions, with the Champions League clubs taking nearly three quarters of that, or just under £2.1bn.
Speaking to The Athletic, UEC president Alex Muzio said: 'This policy, amongst others to come in the next few months, has the potential to benefit over 1,400 clubs, encourage and reward player-development, whilst bringing those clubs to the heart of the conversation. Additionally, it seeks to address growing competitive balance and representation issues.
'This is a new, innovative, standalone policy which complements the current solidarity mechanism advocated by the UEFA.'
Muzio, the majority owner and president of Belgium's Union Saint-Gilloise, believes the PDR concept would appeal to all clubs, including the ECA's 750 members.
The UEC is a smaller organisation, and is not officially recognised by UEFA, unlike the ECA, but it has grown to more than 140 clubs in 25 countries in just two years, with Burnley, Luton Town and Norwich City being among its English members.
()
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Dominik Szoboszlai MOCKS claims he is incompatible with Florian Wirtz
© IMAGO - Florian Wirtz Liverpool Bayer Leverkusen An insight into a Wirtz-Szoboszlai midfield Last night for Hungary, despite captaining his team to a 2-0 loss against Sweden, Szoboszlai delivered a masterclass for the onlooking Liverpool fans checking in on the 24-year-old. Advertisement He was initially positioned as a No. 10 alongside Roman Sallai, who might be Wirtz in Liverpool's engine room next season, but throughout the game he was a deep-lying playmaker in the No. 8 role. Inside his 79 minute appearance we saw a bit of everything. One shot on target, four key passes, an accurate cross, five accurate long-balls, one big chance created, six ground duels won, one aerial duel won, four clearances, one tackle and he was fouled five times by the opposition. The man was a trouble-maker from the off, constantly getting involved wherever he could and making sure he contributed to the team, whether it was on or off the ball. A captain's performance. Advertisement So what did this tell us? Well, if the reports are to be believed, then Wirtz will feature predominantly in the No. 10 role at Liverpool, which then potentially relegates Szoboszlai to the No. 8 role alongside Ryan Gravenberch, although he'll be competing with Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones for minutes. In the final games of the season, we saw Slot try and change things up, and the new role for the Hungarian is definitely something that he could excel in next season if he is required to change. But Wirtz has previously been positioned as a false-nine centre-forward and we've even seen Slot utilise a system where no striker is used. At the Etihad against Manchester City in February, Jones and Szoboszlai played as joint No. 10s, constantly pressing high and overloading the midfield.
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
2 fallen FTSE 250 shares to consider buying before they bounce back
Wizz Air Holdings (LSE: WIZZ) dipped sharply on Thursday (5 June) after the FTSE 250 airline posted a 62% full-year operating profit fall. The shares have lost half their value in the past 12 months, and two-thirds over five years. But is Wizz in the bargain basement of airline sector stocks now? It just might be. The profit hit came mainly from issues over new Pratt & Whitney engines, which grounded a number of planes. And the company suspended its 2026 guidance. So there's clearly a fair bit of risk here, in a sector that's already inherently risky. But the Wizz Air share price weakness has worked wonders for valuation. Forecasts put the 2026 price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio down at just 5.4, and dropping even lower to 4.2 by 2027. I see no reason to think analysts will need to downgrade forecasts in any real way. Current bookings are good. And the company expects significant rises this year in revenue and capacity, coupled with lower costs. That P/E is lower than at easyJet's 6.8 predicted for 2027. And it's even a bit below the 5.2 at International Consolidated Airlines whose longer-haul operations have been suffering. And Wizz Air has much stronger earnings growth forecast than either of those. I'll give it a miss myself because the sector just don't fit my strategy. But I reckon those who invest in airlines could do well to consider buying Wizz while it's down. The CMC Markets (LSE: CMCX) share price dipped the same day, on full-year results. That's even though the annual dividend rose 37%. The company, which provides online trading and investing services, saw underlying EBITDA grow 12% with profit before tax up 33%. But we did see revenue excluding interest income fall 2.3%. The 2024 share price recovery seems to have gone off the boil again. Again, this is one where I think the weak share price performance could be out of line with forecasts and the valuation they imply. To be fair, in the latest update the company did speak of weakening interest income and a 'softer near-term outlook'. And maybe we'll see forecasts for the next two years scaled back a bit. But analysts currently see earnings per share rising 12% over the next two years, providing two-times cover for the predicted progressive dividends. Even if that might now be a bit optimistic, I still see enough safety margin in P/E multiples of only a bit over nine to cover it. And this is a company with net cash on the books, of £248m at 31 March, and forecast to improve further by 2027. CMC's cryptocurrency trading service is popular and can be profitable. But might it lose some attraction if today's excitement should cool? And as economies settle, interest rates fall, and more investors head back to long-term stock markets, short-term trading could also slow. But on today's valuation, I really think this could be a good time to consider getting in. The post 2 fallen FTSE 250 shares to consider buying before they bounce back appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool Alan Oscroft has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Stan Wawrinka's French Open 2015: Novak Djokovic, a backhand, and some famous shorts
ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — Ten years ago this weekend, an expectant Roland Garros crowd awaited a coronation. The erstwhile king of clay, nine-time champion Rafael Nadal, had been deposed in the quarterfinal, and the man who had dished out that comprehensive defeat, Novak Djokovic, would assume the throne. Advertisement Djokovic was the dominant world No. 1, having won two of the previous three majors. All he needed to complete the career Grand Slam was the French Open, and having won his previous 28 matches, he was the overwhelming favourite to do so on a sunny Paris afternoon in June 2015. Having finally got past Nadal at Roland Garros after losing to him six times, Djokovic saw the finish line that had looked unreachable for so long. Instead, Djokovic was on the receiving end of one of the finest performances ever seen in a men's Grand Slam final. The greatest player in the world was reduced to the role of supporting actor by Stan Wawrinka, who delivered a masterclass of a performance in possibly the most hideous shorts ever seen on a tennis court. Wawrinka won three Grand Slams, the Davis Cup and an Olympic gold in doubles, but this was the high point of his career. Aside from Djokovic's performance against Nadal in 2021, and countless examples by the Spaniard, it was the finest at Roland Garros by any man in the modern era. Wawrinka hit 60 winners to Djokovic's 30, and only made four more unforced errors: 45 to 41. He won 76 percent of his first-serve points against the sport's best returner, who that year was at his statistical peak, winning 93 percent of his matches in 2015. The French Open final was the only match Djokovic lost at a major that year. The defeat coming against someone playing such courageous tennis is why Wawrinka's triumph still resonates. Those who follow sports tend to root for this kind of upset, for bravery to be rewarded in this way, but it rarely happens. Normally, the underdog eventually runs out of steam. Not Wawrinka, who was nicknamed 'diesel' by his Swiss compatriot Roger Federer, for the way he seemed to get stronger as matches wore on. Wawrinka beat Djokovic in Paris, and again in the U.S. Open final the following year, having lost the first set. On only two other occasions in his 37 major finals has Djokovic won the first set but lost the match. Advertisement Wawrinka called it the 'match of my life' in his on-court interview, and a decade on, he sticks with that view. 'If you look at all the things like it being the French Open final, Novak Djokovic, No. 1 in the world, he has won almost 30 matches in a row, and playing the way I played for more than three hours, yes probably,' he said in a video interview from Roland Garros last month, where he was still competing, aged 40. The overall win was achieved with some outlandish moments, including a single-handed backhand winner down the line in the third set that he hit in the postage-stamp gap between the net post and the IBM box. 😱 @stanwawrinka goes around the net in the 2015 French Open final 🏆 🇫🇷 Roland Garros – #YouSayWePlay: Best Men's Finals 📅 June 5 ⏰ 10:30 📺 Eurosport 1 📱💻🖥 Eurosport Player: — Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) June 4, 2020 It was that kind of day. Wawrinka occupied a curious place in men's tennis in 2015. He could blast anyone off the court on his day, but he was never as consistent as the Big Four. Nor did he have, nor want, their otherworldly levels of dedication and focus. When Wawrinka reached the French Open final, he said that growing up, his dream was to play at Roland Garros, not to win it. Winning it was for 'mutants,' he said. This explains why Wawrinka, who won as many majors as Andy Murray, never made the Big Four a Big Five — even in his own mind. 'He's clearly in a completely different league than me,' Wawrinka told UK newspaper The Times last year. Wawrinka reached four Grand Slam finals to Murray's 11, nine Grand Slam semifinals to Murray's 21, and won one ATP Masters 1,000 title (the rung below the majors) to Murray's 14. Wawrinka also beat the Big Three far less often than Murray — he had 12 wins against Federer, Nadal and Djokovic to Murray's 29 — and he had dreadful head-to-head records against Federer and Nadal. Advertisement Wawrinka was a giant-killer, but only on a few extremely memorable occasions. He beat defending champion Djokovic at the 2014 Australian Open, before beating Nadal, who picked up an early injury, in the final. That run, together with his wins over Federer and Djokovic at Roland Garros in 2015, makes him the last man to beat two of the Big Three at the same Grand Slam. When he won his first Grand Slam in Melbourne, Wawrinka was 28, and his late-career blossoming came after making some important changes to his team. He brought in Magnus Norman as his coach in 2013, alongside Federer's former physical trainer, Pierre Paganini. Both turned out to be inspired decisions — those two appointments transformed his mind and body. Norman turned out to be especially important to Wawrinka's Roland Garros win, having reached the final himself in 2000. He also masterminded what was at the time the only win over Nadal at the French Open, coaching Robin Söderling to his 2009 upset. There were echoes of that fearless performance in Wawrinka's upset of Djokovic. 'Both amazing performances,' Norman said in a video interview from his home in Stockholm last month before joining up with Wawrinka, who he still coaches, for this year's French Open. 'They both went out to win the match instead of hoping the other would give it away. So it's fair to compare those two wins.' Wawrinka and Norman felt good about 2015 from the start. Wawrinka lost in the French Open first round the previous year, but he felt good this time — helped by beating Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open in Rome a couple of weeks earlier. At Roland Garros, Wawrinka only dropped one set in the first four rounds, to set up a quarterfinal against Federer. He had only won two of his 18 matches against his compatriot, and never found it easy playing him. The previous year they had won the Davis Cup together a couple of weeks after a locker-room argument at the ATP Finals, which followed a feisty semifinal encounter. Wawrinka said that 'it's always been mentally tricky' facing him, so to get the better of him, in straight sets, 'gave me extra confidence for after.' Advertisement Wawrinka's 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(4) victory was the only time he beat Federer at a major, and he lost their final eight meetings. In the semifinals, he outlasted the home favorite, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, on a sweltering afternoon in Paris, in front of a crowd desperately trying to get their man over the line. It helped that Wawrinka, a Francophone from Lausanne, which is close to the French border, was an honorary home player in Paris. Wawrinka's 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-6(3), 6-4 win lasted nearly four hours. The length of the match had a huge bearing on his destiny. It meant that the second semifinal of the day, between Djokovic and Murray, had to be stopped for bad light with the score at two sets all. Wawrinka could then spend the Saturday practicing with Norman, while Djokovic had to come back and play a fifth set. They hit together on an outside court while listening to the noise from Court Philippe-Chatrier, interpreting who Wawrinka's final opponent would be through the cheers of the crowd. They watched the final stages in the locker room, discovering that it was going to be Djokovic after all. Norman said the prep was going to be fairly similar, whoever ended up winning. Wawrinka said that ordinarily, he would have had a preference for who he played, but on this occasion, was fine either way. 'Because with Novak he's the biggest challenge but at the same time if I lose, it's not that bad,' he said of a player who he remains close to. Wawrinka went into the match having lost his last 14 matches against Djokovic, and his feeling that there was nothing to lose stood in contrast with Djokovic being on the cusp of history. Murray's coach at the time, Amélie Mauresmo, picked up on Djokovic's edginess during the semifinal. 'He is very tense there, very tense,' Mauresmo said in a news conference. Norman felt confident because of how relaxed Wawrinka seemed, alongside his ability to out-hit opponents. His charge's calm was an illusion. Advertisement 'I've been trying to hide it for 20 years,' he said. 'The Sunday, I felt way more nervous. I was really not feeling comfortable, thinking that I was 30 years old, so maybe it's going to be my last final.' Wawrinka went in knowing that any lapses would be terminal. 'In a second, he can be back,' Wawrinka said of Djokovic's resilience. 'He can break you because he is always going to put you under pressure. He returns every single ball, he's going to make you play all the time. So you cannot mentally open up even a little bit — you have to be full focus on what you're going to do and the way you're going to do it until the last point.' He was so nervous he even had a couple of drinks the night before the final — another sign of the everyman quality that made him more relatable than many elite athletes. When Djokovic won the first set, the key for Wawrinka was not to start panicking. He and Norman had spoken before the match about taking it one set at a time. When Djokovic sent a backhand long to give up the second set and then smashed his racket, Wawrinka knew that he was properly in the final: 'At that point, I felt like, 'I'm gonna make it difficult for him from now on.' If he wins, that means he's better than me, but I know I'm going to deliver my best,' he said. Tactically, a key message from Norman was that Wawrinka needed to find a balance between playing aggressively, but not going for broke too quickly. They felt confident that Wawrinka's heavier groundstrokes could wear Djokovic down. Wawrinka could live with the backhand-to-backhand exchanges that so few players could, and could even dominate them. Swinging freely when trailing is one thing. It's another to do it as the finish line gets closer. But Wawrinka started playing more aggressively and with more panache as he got closer to victory, playing a close-to-perfect return game with Djokovic serving at 2-3 in the third set. He hit a huge forehand that Djokovic couldn't handle, a forehand winner down the line, a backhand winner down the line, and then a forehand winner crosscourt. The greatest return game anyone has ever played against Novak Djokovic. Happy 40th birthday to the amazing @stanwawrinka 🌟 — Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) March 28, 2025 Watching the game back, Wawrinka said: 'I was feeling good. I just felt like: 'You're in the final, you're confident, you're playing your best tennis, you can go for the shot and just make decisions. When you decide to do something, just do it, don't hesitate, don't think too much.'' Two games later, Wawrinka hit one of the finest shots seen in a Grand Slam final, when he dealt with an angled Djokovic backhand by threading the needle in a way very few players can. 'I saw his short cross and I was like, 'I don't have much option,'' Wawrinka said, watching it back. 'So I just thought, I would slide a little bit longer — make the ball go a little more and go between.' The best shot of his career? 'I think the best shot is the match point, because it was the one that won the title.' Though it feels inevitable looking back that Wawrinka would win, he played the big points better than Djokovic, which was, and remains, one of the hardest tasks in men's tennis. Wawrinka came from 30-0 down on Djokovic's break at 5-4 in the second set, and then fought back from 0-40 down on his own serve at 3-4 in the fourth set, immediately breaking Djokovic at 4-4 to get the chance to serve for the title.. Wawrinka also saved a break point when serving out his 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win. Advertisement As he predicted, Djokovic was going to be right there until the very end, ready to pounce and turn things around. Wawrinka's bravery is what struck those who were there, including Djokovic. 'I lost to a better player who played some courageous tennis and deserved to win,' he said in his post-match news conference. The on-court trophy presentation was emotional. Djokovic, runner-up for a third time with everyone believing it was his year, cried as he was given a two-minute round of applause by a French crowd who had taken him to their hearts in his unexpected defeat. Djokovic went on to win the French Open 12 months later and a decade on, Djokovic believes that Wawrinka produced one of the best performances ever put in against him. 'It was one of the toughest losses for me because by that time I still hadn't won Roland Garros,' he said in a news conference in April. 'I'm not playing Rafa for a change in the finals, and I liked my chances to win my first French Open title. But then Stan stole it from me, and he played some incredible tennis.' Wawrinka credited Norman in his on-court interview. 'This one is for you. You've won it,' he said. 'I still get the shivers thinking about it. It was so unselfish of him to do it. He knew how much that meant to me,' Norman said 10 years later. The backhand. The courage. The power. But what about the red, white and grey plaid shorts? They became a major talking point during Wawrinka's title run, and he draped them over the desk as he came in for his post-final press conference. 'It will be in the museum of Roland Garros,' Wawrinka said as he entered the interview room. 'You will see my shorts every day if you want.' 'We still joke around telling that the reason why he played so well is because of the shorts,' Djokovic said in April, before adding with a laugh: 'I don't know how many of you remember the famous shorts that he was wearing, and I really hated him since then. But, no, we're good buddies, of course I joke. He's an incredible player, someone I really admire as a person as well.' Advertisement The shorts are now hanging up on a wall in Norman's house in Stockholm. 'He gave them to me, with the match shirt and everything,' Norman said. 'He framed them for me. I love them, of course.' After that Roland Garros title, Wawrinka beat Djokovic in the following year's U.S. Open final, and was then destroyed by Nadal in the French Open final of 2017. He had knee surgery shortly after and has never been a regular presence at the sharp end of majors since. Once he retires, Norman's plan is for the whole team to go and celebrate Wawrinka's career achievements, in a way that's often hard to do in the moment. For the moment, Wawrinka carries on, ranked No. 138 and regularly playing ATP Challenger tournaments, the rung below the professional tour. He and Norman insist that he continues because of his love and passion for the sport. His willingness to do that and dedication to his craft are as impressive to Djokovic as the performance that broke his heart 10 years ago. He's very underestimated in the discussions,' Djokovic said. 'He's won an Olympic gold, three Grand Slams, just an amazing career. He's 40 years old, with god knows how many surgeries on the knees and everything, and he's still pushing, still coming in, still coming in early in the tournament. 'Showing up, one of the first people that shows up in the club, and practices early, and does everything that he needs to do, even more. So that's super impressive. I really admire him and Andy (Murray) as well for that, going to the Challenger level, trying to build your rankings, trying to get matches. 'I've never done that, never was in that position that I have to, hopefully I don't need to, build rankings again back to go to Challenger level. But I really admire that. That says a lot about the champion spirit and mentality that these guys have.'
