G14 (football)

The G-14 was an organisation of European football clubs that existed between 2000 and 2008. It consisted of 14 European top class teams initially, later expanded to 18. It was disbanded in 2008 and was replaced by the European Club Association representing over 100 clubs, in a deal reached with UEFA and FIFA.

The G-14 clubs were spread across seven different countries, and had won around 250 national league titles between them (although some of the member teams, Bayer Leverkusen for example, had actually never won top league title throughout their history). Three came from the top division of Italy; two from each of Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and England; and one came from Portugal. G-14 members had won the European Cup/Champions League 41 times out of 51 seasons.

The 2004 Champions League final was the first in that competition since 1992 in which one of the finalists was not a G-14 member; the 2004 final featured member FC Porto and non-member AS Monaco, with Porto winning the final. There have been only four Champions League or European Cup finals where both teams were non-members of G-14 (1970, 1979, 1980).

The G-14 was founded in September 2000 by 14 leading clubs to provide a unified voice in negotiations with UEFA and FIFA. New members could join by invitation only. In August 2002, four more clubs joined, taking the membership to 18, although the organisation retained its original name.

As the leading clubs in European Football, their power on the world stage was best demonstrated during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where they provided 22% of participating players. This supported their assertion that national associations should pay players' wages whilst on international duty and provide compensation in the case of injuries. In April 2004, G-14 initiated a preliminary investigation into FIFA by the Swiss Competition Commission, when they complained of FIFA's requiring their players to be available for FIFA international competitions without compensating the clubs. FIFA president Sepp Blatter refused to negotiate with the G-14 on the matter.

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