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.
A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Bayer 04 U19s have extended their winning run with a fifth consecutive victory on Matchday 5 of the DFB Youth League’s preliminary round. Coach Patrick Greveraars’ side secured a 3–2 (2–1) win in their match against second-placed FC Viktoria Köln, with Burak Kir and Nebe Domnic scoring for the hosts in the first half before captain Ben Hawighorst found the net after the break.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without defender Guéla Doué for the time being. The Ivory Coast international sustained a muscle injury to his right calf during the final Werkself training session yesterday ahead of the Europa League clash with Slovenian champions NK Celje.
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For the first time since reaching the final against AS Roma (2–2, first leg 2–0) in May 2024, Bayer 04 are playing another home match in the UEFA Europa League – and they will be wearing their new European kit. On Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), the BayArena will welcome Slovenian champions NK Celje, who appointed a new coach this week following a mixed start to the season. Under the slogan “40 Years Across Europe. Still Creating History.”, the Black and Reds now aim to add the next chapter to their European history, which has seen so much success in recent years. Bayer 04 fans can follow the match on free-to-air TV on RTL, as well as on Sky and Werkself Radio. The matchday news.
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European football returns to the BayArena: Bayer 04 host Slovenian champions NK Celje on matchday 1 in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. Ahead of the match on Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez and midfielder Aleix Garcia spoke at the pre-match press conference. The focus was primarily on the great anticipation surrounding the competition and the clear objectives for it – and, given the circumstances, on a last-minute change to the opposition line-up.
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