Op-ed: Football is losing its competitive balance - the UEC has a plan to address it

At the Union of European Clubs (UEC) we stand for three major pillars that make football the best it can be:

• good governance

• financial sustainability

• competitive balance

Every day we work with stakeholders at all levels to come up with realistic yet impactful policies that can help the sport achieve those pillars.

In football there is a lot of randomness. It is actually one of the major factors in why football is so popular.

Whereas in sports like rugby, basketball and tennis (to name but a few) the best teams/players routinely win — in football the scope for surprise is always there.

It is partly because of this that it is so easy to find examples of how football remains competitively balanced:

• Leicester won the Premier League!

• Leverkusen just won the title last season!

• Brest made the Champions League knockouts!

• Bodo/Glimt reached the Europa League semi finals!

So why is competitive balance an issue if those sorts of feats are happening?

The answer is that these have been exceptional occurrences in a sport that never historically needed exceptions.

Bayern Munich had never won four titles in a row until they won eleven in a row from 2012-2023.

No one has ever dominated in England like Man City are currently or in France like PSG are now. For PSG, winning the domestic title barely sparks a celebration now given the expectations and the phenomenal gap in budget from PSG to the rest.

These are just the biggest leagues – in smaller leagues the trend is just as dramatic.

RB Salzburg won 10 titles in a row recently, Ferencvaros 6 titles in a row currently and Ludogorets 14 titles in a row. But these are just titles. Noteworthy is not just who won but how they won.

Below shows how the winners are also winning by more than ever too – which stifles the hopes of fans. This data is the average over the decade, not the last year listed, so the evidence is clear.

The widening gap between the haves and the have-nots in terms of sporting success is strongly correlated with the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots in terms of revenue. This isn’t a surprise, as it is long-established that higher budgets lead to better sporting outcomes.

For me, the most important item on the agenda is for those with the power over distribution of revenue to accept not only that there is a problem but also the scale of the problem.

It seems as if most fans, journalists, commentators, owners, catering staff, head coaches and players are aware that there is a big issue – but UEFA and the ECA seem to either pretend it isn’t an issue or ignore the scale.

The piecemeal change that has been made to solidarity in recent years won’t alter the fundamental competitive balance issue at all.

As it happens, the Conference League, originally intended as something of a solution to competitive balance, is going to exacerbate the issue.

The bottom 30(ish) UEFA associations’ domestic leagues have little-to-no domestic television money and as such when one of those clubs makes it into the group stage of the Conference League they now have a transformative amount of money which when spent, inevitably, on players and coaches it will give them an advantage that then results in… them qualifying again, and so the vicious cycle continues.

So what are the solutions?

It would be naïve to suggest that there is a panacea to this problem, there isn’t.

At the UEC our first major policy is something that we think is incredibly simple and positive for all stakeholders, but it is just one small step when we need a giant leap.

This policy is Player Development Rewards.

Acknowledging that European football is an enormous pyramid, PDR would help more equitably re-distribute UEFA prize money to every club who has played their part in the development of players that contribute to teams earning UEFA prize money.

Each season, at least 5% of UEFA Club Competition revenues would be set aside as a Player Development Reward (PDR).

Funds would be re-distributed to clubs based on the minutes the players that they have trained and developed play in UEFA Club Competitions that season - and the prize money they generate.

Only clubs from UEFA National Associations would be eligible, with those represented in the UCL League Phase that season also ineligible given that 85% of UEFA competition revenues goes to its top-tier offering.

Any unallocated funds would be redistributed once again among these eligible clubs.

We believe this is an improvement on the existing and outdated FIFA solidarity and training compensation scheme, as the status quo rewards players for transacting rather than contributing to the success of their club.

UEFA’s system of solidarity payments currently lack any specific reward for training clubs, failing to incentivise youth development across the continent. Our policy would, upon its adoption, strengthen the incentives for developing players and encourage investment in facilities and infrastructure. This generates long-lasting value for club and community.

But what would the impact be?

After performing a number of simulations based on recent seasons, we found that nearly 1,500 clubs across Europe would have received PDR payments, from top divisions to sixth-tier teams.

Over 400 clubs would have received more than €100,000 each.

By financially recognising and rewarding all the clubs that fuel the professional game, developing the talent that sells tickets and wins trophies, this policy has the potential to deliver meaningful, long-term impact.

While we have spent a lot of time working on the policy, calculating its consequences both intended and unintended, this is still just our first attempt at addressing a hugely important but complex issue. We hope that this serves as a starting point for a much-needed conversation with European football’s stakeholders, and we will continue working on solutions to advance the interests of our members and future members.

Football is evolving and it will continue to evolve.

The UEC remains committed as ever to advocating for a fairer, more sustainable and more inclusive ecosystem where all clubs, no matter their size or budget, have a voice and have opportunity to grow.

We believe the Player Development Reward is an important, easily achieved step towards that future.