Barça considers leaving the Super League and returning to the European Club Association

The Fútbol Club Barcelona is going through a moment of reflection in the European scene. After having been one of the promoters of the European Super League in 2021 together with Real Madrid, the Blaugrana entity is seriously studying a change of course that could mean its departure from the project and reincorporation into the European Club Association (ECA). **Joan Laporta, the president of Barça**, will attend the next General Assembly of the ECA on October 8 as a guest, after receiving a personal invitation from its president, Nasser al-Khelaïfi. This move confirms the impasse in which the Catalan club finds itself with respect to the Super League, in a context where relations with **UEFA** seem to have strengthened.

In fact, in the recent Champions League match against PSG, Laporta was seen in the box alongside the president of UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, and Al-Khelaïfi himself, which symbolizes a possible shift in the Barça's institutional strategy.

## What is the European Club Association (ECA)?

The ECA is the organization that brings together more than 700 teams from across the continent with the aim of defending their interests against UEFA and other football institutions. The association promotes cooperation between clubs, the improvement of European football development, and the guarantee of participation in major competitions such as the Champions League.

In Spain, teams such as Espanyol, Girona, Atlético de Madrid, Athletic Club, and Real Betis are part of the ECA. However, Barça and Real Madrid left the association in 2021 to promote the creation of the Super League, an alternative competition that sought to replace the Champions League.

## The Super League, an increasingly weakened projectCurrently, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid are the only clubs that maintain their public support for the Super League project. The competition was presented as a formula to guarantee higher income, high-level matches on a regular basis, and greater control over television and commercial rights.

However, the proposal was met with outright rejection from UEFA, FIFA, national federations, and the majority of fans. Warnings of possible sanctions, such as exclusion from national and international competitions, coupled with social pressure, led most of the founders to quickly abandon the project.

### Clubs that abandoned the Super League* Atlético de Madrid * Arsenal FC * Chelsea FC * Liverpool * Manchester City * Manchester United * Tottenham Hotspur * Inter Milan * Juventus FC * AC Milan## Main differences between ECA and Super LeagueWhile the ECA defends a model based on sporting meritocracy, in which teams participate based on their results in national leagues, the Super League proposed a closed system that ensured the presence of its founders regardless of sporting performance. Although the format was later reformulated, the initial idea was one of the main reasons for rejection by institutions and fans.

Barça's return to the ECA would not only signify a shift in political alignment in Europe, but also a key institutional rapprochement with UEFA, which could have positive consequences in sports, economics, and international relations.

## A Barça in transition

The Barça club is at a turning point in its European strategy. With the progressive return to Spotify Camp Nou and the new Champions League cycle underway, the entity chaired by Laporta seeks stability and new alliances. Reintegrating into the ECA would be a key step in this direction, leaving behind the solitude shared with Real Madrid in the Super League project.

The meeting on October 8 could be the first chapter of this institutional change of course. It remains to be seen whether Joan Laporta's presence at the ECA as a guest translates into a formal reincorporation of Barça in the short term.

*Consult more news about the Barça team in our section dedicated to **FC Barcelona**. *