Bayern Munich legal director Dr Michael Gerlinger was elected to the ECA board this Tuesday in Geneva. Gerlinger has worked for Bayern since 2005, and is also responsible for both personal and club relations. The 44-year-old was among the group of club representatives who contributed to the ECA's founding in 2007. Current FIFA President Gianni Infantino was a negotiating partner on the UEFA side.

Since 2016 the ECA has been represented on the UEFA executive by two delegates, and has marketed European club competitions with UEFA since 2017: Gerlinger is one of three ECA executives in "UEFA Club competitions S.A.".

"Dr Gerlinger has contributed greatly to the benefit of European football in the past," stated Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. "I am pleased he has been appointed to this leading council of European club football. German football is very well represented by Dr Gerlinger. All the best from Bayern."

Newly-elected ECA chairman Andrea Agnelli also welcomes Gerlinger's promotion to the ECA board. "We all have to respect Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's decision to stand down. I am therefore very happy that Dr Gerlinger will represent German football and Bayern Munich in our organisation. Michael is a professional, I have worked with him confidently at the ECA for five years. He is a master of negotiation and his knowledge of the European football map is second to none. Above all he's a great friend."

Dr Gerlinger is occasionally active on a sports tribunal for the German Football Association (DFB) and graduated in 2001 as one of the first to receive the FIFA Master's degree in Sport Management. "Even though I know everyone and everything in the ECA, this election is a great honour and responsibility," he said on Tuesday. "I look forward to supporting European football in this position in the future."