European Clubs Association (ECA) chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge announced Tuesday the ECA and UEFA had agreed that the unpopular preseason August friendly date should be scrappedby FIFA, and UEFA insurance is also due to cover players injured on international duty. He warned that FIFA had yet to sanction the proposals and provoked a response from the world governing bodyafter criticizing the way the organization had behaved.
“It is not our will to go against FIFA,” Rummenigge told a news conference in Waraw. “But our request fortransparency and democracy has to be accepted.”
Under a new agreement with UEFA over the use of their players by national teams, UEFA said it will cover players injured oninternational duty starting with this June’s Euros in Poland and Ukraine.
“This insurance is valid for all players registered with a European club, irrespective of theirnationality, and for all matches mentioned in the international calendar, including both official and friendly matches,” an ECA statement added.
FIFA has invited the ECA and otherworld football stakeholders to a March 5 meeting in Zurich to discuss the calendar from 2015 onward, but both Rummenigge and ECA general secretary Michele Centenaro have said theywill not attend.