Carro, who travelled to Geneva representing Bayer 04 as a member of the European Club Association (ECA), will be the only German representative on the committee of European top-ranking executives. He takes over from Michael Gerlinger (Bayern Munich) who will still have a seat on the ECA Executive Board.
"European club football is at a crossroads. It's a matter of bringing together different interests and finding workable solutions for everybody involved," declared Carro. "I like that intricacy, I like challenges like that and want to make a contribution in my role - on behalf of Bayer 04 Leverkusen - for German football together with our colleagues from the Bundesliga."
The UEFA Club Competitions Committee (CCC) is composed of 16 members from the ECA and four members from UEFA and reports to the UEFA Executive Committee. It has an important function in terms of organisation of compositions as well as the distribution of income from rights and marketing. The current chairman of the committee is the president of the Portuguese League Association Fernando Gomes.
In addition to Carro, the CEO of Manchester City, Ferran Soriano, plus club bosses Aurelio De Laurentiis (Napoli), Jacques-Henri Eyraud (Olympic Marseille) and Ivan Gazidis (AC Milan) were also nominated for the four-year term of office.
Michael Gerlinger and Hans-Joachim Watzke of Borussia Dortmund will represent German football on the ECA Executive Board from now on. Together with Fernando Carro's seat on the UEFA CCC, German football will now be represented by three clubs on European club committees.
Both the ECA Executive Board and the UEFA Club Competitions Committee see the currently discussed, potential reform of the UEFA Champions League from 2024 as one of the most important issues to be dealt with.
Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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A rematch in Athens: On Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), the Werkself face Greek double winners Olympiacos for the second time this season at the Karaiskakis Stadium. After the encounter in the league phase, it's now time for the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-offs. Ahead of the game, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how his side will approach the clash, while captain Robert Andrich explained how the team will try to dampen the atmosphere in the stadium tomorrow.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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