World Soccer - UK (2019-12)

confederation CONMEBOL following the

FIFAGate corruption scandal.

Sarai BAREMAN

New Zealand, FIFA head of women’s football

Former Samoan FA official brought into FIFA by

Gianni Infantino in 2016. One of the highest-

ranking female officials in Zurich.

Jonathan BARNETT

England, agent

Founder and chairman of London-based Stellar

Group, his most high-profile client is Gareth Bale.

Named by Forbes as the world’s most powerful

sports agent after negotiating an estimated

$1.28billion in contracts and transfer fees.

Josep Maria BARTOMEU

Spain, Barcelona president

Catalan businessman who has been president of

Barcelona since 2014 following the resignation

of previous president Sandro Rosell. Likely to

face a re-election battle in 2021.

Txiki BEGIRISTAIN

Spain, Manchester City director of football

Former Spain international who has played a

central role in the emergence of Man City as

a major force in English and European football,

overseeing youth development and recruitment.

Alasdair BELL

Scotland, FIFA deputy general-secretary

Former head of legal affairs at European

governing body UEFA who was hired by FIFA

in 2018 and is playing an increasingly important

role in Zurich.

A-B

Giuliano BERTOLUCCI

Brazil, agent

Responsible, with partner Kia Joorabchian,

for many Brazilians moving to Europe. Clients

include Willian, Philippe Coutinho and David Luiz.

Sonia BIEN-AIME

Turks & Caicos, FIFA Council member

In 2015 became the first woman to be elected

to FIFA’s executive committee in a seat not

designated for a female.

Philippe BLATTER

Switzerland, president InFront/Wanda

A major figure in global TV rights, the nephew

of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter is now

playing a key role in football’s development in

China, where Wanda, who bought his InFront

agency in 2015, is a high-profile sponsor.

Tarek BOUCHAMAOUI

Tunisia, FIFA Council member

Elected to FIFA’s top body in 2015 as part of a

new wave of African executives. Was revealed

by the Swiss Leaks investigation to have over

€43million in an HSBC bank account.

SPOTLIGHT ON...

He is stuck between a rock

and a hard place – between his

organisational responsibility

and his own club’s interests

Andrea AGNELLI

Italy, Juventus chairman, ECA chairman

Andrea Agnelli is as close as it comes to

football royalty. He is the fourth member

of his family to preside over Italian record

champions Juventus since FIAT owner

Edoardo Agnelli bought control in 1923.

In between came Gianni Agnelli and then

Umberto, Andrea’s father.

For Andrea becoming chairman of the

European Club Association was a natural

further leadership role once Juve’s

command of Serie A (eight league

titles in a row since 2012) and

finances (courtesy of the new

stadium built in 2011) in the

wake of the Calciopoli scandal

had been established.

Leading the ECA is a job

which involves representing

more than 220 regular

European competition clubs not only in

title but as one of its two representatives

on the UEFA executive committee. This

is a difficult balancing act because of

the conflicts of interest, but Agnelli would

consider he is appropriately qualified.

Becoming Juventus president in 2010,

he joined the ECA board in 2012 and then

succeeded Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as

chair in 2017. The trouble is that the ECA

is split between the minority of Big Five

league giants – such as Real Madrid,

Barcelona, Manchester City, Paris

Saint-Germain and Agnelli’s Juventus

• and the majority of the continent’s
  middle-of-the-road clubs. Both sectors
  furnish different aims. The giants want a
  format which guarantees their permanent
  presence, the rest are setting a sky-high
  price for compliance.
  Agnelli is stuck between a rock and a
  hard place. He must be seen clearly to be
  balancing his organisational responsibility
  against his own club’s interests. He has

denied media reports about disagreement,

talking only of “concerns which we have

put at the centre of discussion”.

Further challenges loom over the ECA’s

guarded response to FIFA’s new Club World

Cup in which the big clubs are insisting on

playing in 2021. And the ECA risks splitting

after Real Madrid president Florentino

Perez played a leading role in creating

a new World Football Club Association.

The outlook for Agnelli is awkward, to

say the least.

Keir Radnedge

PSG boss...

Nasser Al

Khelaifi

Key...Hassan Al Thawadi is the public face of Qatar’s preparations for their hosting of the 2022 World Cup finals