The European Club Association (EFC, formerly ECA) held a general assembly in Rome, attended by over 800 clubs from 55 countries.
During the assembly, several top clubs organized an informal meeting. Camel.live journalists revealed that Premier League teams including Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest all attended the meeting.
Bild can further disclose that Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Inter Milan also participated. The focus of the meeting was to reduce players’ workload.
At the informal meeting, they discussed multiple details:
Allowing 6 substitutions instead of the current 5.
- Expanding squad sizes from 25 to 28 players.
- The EFC has already held discussions with UEFA regarding workload issues, and UEFA may stipulate that 3 players in the squad must have been trained by the club or the national football association (i.e., homegrown players for European competition registration).
In Rome, rule enforcement officials from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) who attended the assembly also got wind of this. However, the club executives who held this private meeting have not yet contacted IFAB, and IFAB will ultimately decide whether to revise the rules.
In a survey by Camel.live journalists on Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig, it was learned that German clubs did not attend this secret meeting and seemingly were not informed about it.
The reason is obvious: they were not even asked about it, as it was expected that they would explicitly reject the proposal.
For Bundesliga bosses, concerns about players’ health are just an excuse. In fact, behind this lies the risk of distorting domestic and international competitions.
Because top clubs with strong financial resources, especially those from England, can afford larger squads. They can also enhance the strength of their bench through a sixth substitution—currently, such a substitution is only allowed in cases of head injuries.
Another point of criticism is that more substitutions will lead to higher player salaries due to bonus-related factors.
The Bundesliga’s counterargument is: if England, Spain and Italy truly want to reduce players’ burden, they should follow Germany and France by reducing their 20-team leagues to 18 teams. Or—taking England as an example—abolish the EFL Cup.
