Michal Mertinyak, Executive Director of the league and Board Member of our Association, and Alberto Colombo, General Secretary, attending social dialogue negotiations in Slovakia
The European Leagues Association was this week in Bratislava to support the Slovakian Union of Clubs, led by the Executive Director of the league and Board Member of our Association, Michal Mertinyak, in their domestic negotiations with the players’ union and the local Football Association as part of the new National Social Dialogue in professional football.
In the context of the European Union Social Dialogue Committee for Professional Football, the European football stakeholders and EU social partners met with domestic stakeholders, including the Unia Ligovych Klubov (League Clubs Union), the Slovak Football Association (SFZ), and the Slovak Players’ Union.
Discussions focused on key issues such as the enhancement of the national standard contract, the drafting of a new pioneering trilateral MoU between the social dialogue partners, as well as the review of the National Dispute Resolution Chamber procedures in compliance with national law and new FIFA standards.
Michal Mertinyak, Executive Director of the Unia Ligovych Klubov, said: “In cooperation with our clubs, the league has fully embraced this new era of cooperation with the FA and the Players’ Union as part of the National Social Dialogue. It is important to count on the support of the European Leagues during this process so that we can implement higher standards in Slovakia when it comes to labour contractual relations and conditions, in full compliance with EU law and FIFA standards.”
The European Leagues will keep working on these matters with the Unia Ligovych Klubov, which represents 12 professional Clubs and has been a member of the European Leagues since 2020.
The ULK is the sixth League of our Association to embrace the new European Social Dialogue following good results achieved by the social partners in Poland, Serbia, Romania, Czech Republic and Turkey during the past two seasons.