Leverkusen Want To Help Shape European Football

Bayer Leverkusen's rise has been measured in trophies, Champions League nights and increasingly expensive transfer targets.

But the club's influence is now reaching somewhere less visible: the rooms where European football decides how its future will work.

Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes were both present at the 33rd General Assembly of the European Football Clubs in Copenhagen this week, where more than 1,000 delegates gathered to discuss the direction of European club football. The EFC now represents 920 men's and women's clubs across 55 countries and territories.

For Leverkusen, this is significant because Carro is not attending as a passive observer.

Die Werkself CEO has been part of the EFC's executive leadership since 2021 and represents Bundesliga interests. He is also a member of UEFA's Club Competitions Committee and the UC3 Board of Administration, placing him directly inside some of the structures responsible for European club competitions.

And the business being discussed is becoming enormous.

UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and the EFC responsible for commercialising media, sponsorship and licensing rights for European men's and women's club competitions, has helped annual UEFA club-competition revenue climb beyond €4.4 billion. For the 2027-31 commercial cycle, more than €5 billion per season is expected for the first time.

That growth matters to clubs like Leverkusen.

The bigger European football becomes commercially, the greater the importance of decisions surrounding how that money is distributed, who participates in decision-making and how clubs outside the traditional superpowers are represented.

That was one of the central themes in Copenhagen.

The EFC unanimously approved a governance reform for the 2027-31 period that will create a 33-member voting executive board, with five to seven places reserved for Associated Member Clubs. All EFC members will also, in principle, be able to seek representation on UEFA and FIFA committees.

Carro himself framed the issue around transparency and participation, arguing that the enormous sporting and economic influence of European club football cannot simply be taken for granted.

For Leverkusen, there is an interesting parallel.

The club has spent the last few years trying to establish itself among Europe's elite on the pitch. Its 2024 Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double transformed its sporting standing, while Carro and Rolfes have both had their contracts extended, with Rolfes committed until 2031 and Carro until 2029.

Their presence in Copenhagen shows another side of that growth.

Leverkusen are not simply trying to qualify for Europe's biggest competitions anymore. Their executives are increasingly involved in conversations about how those competitions are governed, marketed, and financed.

That may not produce a headline on matchday.

But it could prove just as important to the club's long-term ambition.

Because competing with Europe's biggest clubs is one thing.

Having a seat at the table when the future of European football is being decided is another.