Real Madrid Move Toward Rejoining European Football Clubs

Nasser Al-Khelaifi confirmed on Tuesday that Real Madrid are working their way back into European Football Clubs, the body formerly known as the ECA, more than four years after the club left over the Super League project.

"We are delighted that Real Madrid are in the process of returning to the EFC," Al-Khelaifi said in his opening address to the 33rd EFC annual assembly in Copenhagen. He thanked Florentino Pérez, whom he called a "dear friend", for believing the future of the game "needs to be built on unity and collective interest".

Real Madrid had no official presence at the assembly. Anas Laghrari, one of Pérez's closest advisers, was in the room but seated there on behalf of A22 Sports Management, the company still pushing the Super League case, and not as a Real Madrid representative. EFC placed him in the second row, level with Joan Laporta, just behind the organisation's executive committee.

Barcelona's return was the more concrete step. Laporta attended in an official capacity, and Al-Khelaifi thanked him too, for trusting the EFC and welcoming Barcelona back into a body that now counts more than 900 clubs.

The thaw follows a February settlement between UEFA, the EFC and Real Madrid that closed the legal disputes stemming from the Super League, days after Barcelona confirmed it had cut ties with the project. Real Madrid has been left as A22's only remaining club backer. A22 has since filed a damages claim against UEFA and is separately seeking legal recognition of the competition, moves that came after Madrid's Provincial Court rejected an appeal against the project last October.

Real Madrid still has no seat among the EFC's members. Laghrari's presence in Copenhagen points to talks moving forward, but the club's formal return, unlike Barcelona's, has not yet been completed.