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 have comfortably reached the DFB Pokal second round thanks to a 4–0 victory away to Liga 3 side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Patrik Schick put the Werkself ahead in the first 45 in the first competitive match under head coach Carles Martínez with debuts for new signings Miguel Gutiérrez, Afonso Moreira and Facundo Medina. After the break, Lucas Vázquez (47'), Nathan Tella (69') and Christian Kofane (79') also found the back of the net.
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Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
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Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
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With the 2026/27 season set to kick off with a DFB Pokal tie away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden (Saturday, 22 August, 13:00 CEST), the squad numbers for two Werkself players have now been confirmed. New signing Afonso Moreira will wear the number 9, which he has already worn in pre-season friendlies. Lucas Vázquez is switching from number 21 to number 17 – the number he wore successfully at Real Madrid for many years.
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Bayer 04 start the 2026/27 season away to third-division side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Ahead of the DFB Pokal tie on Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez spoke at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The topics: anticipation, passion, the fans’ support – and the captaincy for the new season.
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