Celtic chairman Lawwell appointed to senior European football role
Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell has been appointed to a major new role in European football.
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Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell has been appointed to a major new role in European football.
The 64-year-old will take up the position of vice chairman of the European Club Association [ECA].
He has also been made a member of the joint venture between the ECA and UEFA for the next four-year cycle.
The announcement came as part of a raft of changes to the Champions League’s financial distribution model that were confirmed for the next four years.
Lawwell said: “It is an honour to be appointed into these new positions.
“It is crucial that the Club has a voice at the top of the game, and as we continually seek to strengthen and develop European football as a whole, I will also continue to do all I can to work in the best interests of both Celtic and Scottish football.
“I would like to thank ECA chairman, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and fellow board members for giving me this opportunity.”
Chief executive Michael Nicholson said: “I would like to congratulate Peter on his appointments, which have been announced today.
“The ECA is a hugely important organisation within European football and it is great news for Celtic that Peter will continue to maintain such an important and influential role within this institution.
“For many years, Peter has worked tirelessly within the ECA and UEFA on behalf of both Celtic and Scottish football.
“Through these new appointments it is fantastic that our voice and interests will continue to be heard at the highest level of European football.”
Lawwell has been an executive board member of the ECA since early 2014 and a member of UEFA’s club competitions committee since 2015.
He also became one of ECA’s four representatives on the professional football strategy council in 2017.
Celtic were paid handsomely for their Portuguese star by Al-Ittihad but his former club Benfica landed a good chunk of change.
Jota’s mesmerising exit from Celtic had fans salivating over the £25million and a chunk of change heading for the bank, but the numbers were also good news for Benfica.
It was just reward for the Hoops after they splashed out £6.5million to the Portuguese giants for a player who went on to win a domestic Treble under Ange Postecoglou and become a fan favourite at Parkhead. Then the ever-growing shadow of the Saudi Pro League came calling as Al-Ittihad put a money-spinning offer to the champions that was accepted days after Brendan Rodgers returned to the post in Glasgow. And while his time in Jeddah hasn’t been the rosiest, Jota broke the record for fee received for the Scottish champions that had been set by Kieran Tierney’s move to Arsenal in 2019.
But now figures released via Record show the Benfica accounts looking healthy indeed, with a sizeable 30 per cent sell-on fee included in his move to Glasgow meaning the Portuguese side banked an extra £6.5million on top of the same figure they earned through his transfer fee. In essence, The Eagles made double what they sold him for to the Scottish champions.
They did, however, shelve out £633,000 relating to the “retention of the solidarity mechanism and expenses with intermediation services.”