The President of the Swiss Football League (SFL), Thomas Grimm (50), was elected Thursday 11 March 2010, Member of the Board of Directors of the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL). The SFL has since 2005 been a member of the organization.
The elected President of the SFL in June 2009, Thomas Grimm, was elected Member of the Board of Directors of the EPFL. The EPFL Board of Directors is composed by nine Members. Five of the seats are directly attributed to the top five European Leagues (Premier League, Liga de Fútbol Profesional Spain, Lega Calcio Italy, DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH Germany and Ligue de Football Professionnel France). For the remaining four places, only full Member Leagues can apply. SFL is a full Member since 2005.
The Association of European Leagues was founded in 1997 and was renamed in 2005 as the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL). Currently, the association counts with 23 full members and 7 associated members. A League can only be considered a full member, when it is responsible for operating the highest football league in its country. The main activities of the EPFL include, the collection and exchange of information between Member Leagues and Associate Member Leagues in all areas of interest in Professional Football (Media, Marketing, Betting, Finance, Youth, Competition, etc).
The EPFL endorses and protects the specificity, identity and autonomy of professional football within Europe and the world, fostering cooperation, friendly relations and unity between the European Professional Football Leagues and exploring common synergies with football authorities and other relevant stakeholders, in order to positively transform and add significant value to the professional football landscape
The EPFL is the common voice of the Professional Football Leagues across Europe on all matters of common interest in UEFA (Professional Football Strategy Council), FIFA, FIFPro, and other relevant political authorities.
The election of Thomas Grimm for the EPFL Executive Board is another success of the SFL in an effort to help Switzerland win more influence on all European football decision making bodie. Several representatives of the SFL are also members of some EPFL Standing Committees.
The nine Members of the Board of Directors:
- Sir David Richards (England), Chairman
- Frédéric Thiriez (France), Deputy Chairman
- Reinhard Rauball (Germany)
- Marco Brunelli (Italy)
- Jose Luis Astiazaran (Spain)
- Valentin Mihov (Bulgaria)
- Pryadkin Sergey (Russia)
- Frank Rutten (Netherlands)
- Thomas Grimm (Switzerland)
