UEC: a "Player Development Reward" would restore "fairness and balance" in football

The Union of European Clubs has presented a new strategic policy proposal: the "Player Development Reward" (PDR) - "a pragmatic, merit-based approach to restoring fairness and balance in the football ecosystem to support clubs investing in talent," announced the UEC on 12/05/2025.

The UEC is calling on UEFA to allocate at least 5% of annual club competition revenues to a new financial mechanism that would directly benefit clubs that train and develop players participating in UEFA club competitions, irrespective of whether these clubs participate themselves.

"Only clubs not participating in the UEFA Champions League league phase that season (in which each of the 36 qualifying clubs faces eight different opponents) would be eligible, ensuring support goes to clubs whose work often goes unrecognised," explained the UEC.

"These funds would be redistributed to clubs based on the minutes played in UEFA competitions and prize money earned by players they have trained and developed," added the Union of European Clubs.

According to simulations, almost 1,500 European clubs, from the top flight…