Cairo, Egypt – 15 November 2024. The Annual Meeting of the World Leagues Association was hosted by the Egyptian Pro League in Cairo on Thursday 14 and Friday 15 November 2024 with 37 professional leagues from all continents represented to discuss the future of the game at a national and international level.
At the meeting, the WLA launched a new “League Development Program”, a tailored audit, benchmarking and strategic planning process to help leagues of all sizes and ambitions with their development.
The Annual Meeting was also an opportunity to discuss the pressure that the expanding international calendar is putting on the 130,000 professional players and 4000 professional clubs that rely on their national football economies. For the first time, continental workshops were organized (Africa, The Americas, Asia and Australia, Europe) to enhance regional cooperation between national leagues as they collectively maintain their advocacy for a calendar in which competitions organised by continental and world governing bodies are complementary to national leagues and not jeopardizing their sustainability.
Finally, the decision of the European Court of Justice on the Diarra case and its consequences for the transfer system was addressed. Leagues, which represent clubs at national level reiterated the importance of maintaining a social dialogue with player unions to help define short and long-term solutions guaranteeing legal certainty to clubs and players.
The World Leagues Association would like to thank the Egyptian Pro League for its exceptional hospitality.
