Dein 'can help G14 find amicable solutions'

The G14 group of elite European clubs hopes the appointment of Arsenal’s David Dein as its new chairman will allow it to settle its differences with FIFA and UEFA in an “amicable” manner.

Dein, vice-chairman at the Barclays Premiership club, accepted the position last week and will be installed when the Arsenal board officially approves the move in the coming days.

Arsenal is one of the 18 members of the G14 assembly along with the likes of Manchester United, AC Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Lyon.

Dein will form part of the new management committee and in his new role will aim to smooth relations between G14 and world and European football’s governing bodies.

“What he has said is that he will be trying to get a result with FIFA and UEFA over the next year, so he will be reaching out to them to get some form of amicable solution,” G14 spokesman James Thellusson said.

“The key goal for G14 is finding a solution to the issues of player release, player insurance and governance, as it has always been.

“The issues that are at the heart of the Charleroi case are the issues that need to be resolved.”

The Royal Charleroi case has seen G14 support the Belgian club in a lawsuit against FIFA.

Charleroi midfielder Abdelmajid Oulmers was injured playing for Morocco in November 2004 and was sidelined for eight months. The club claims the injury contributed to the team missing out on a place in the UEFA Cup and want FIFA to pay damages of €615,000.

The claim has been referred to the European Court of Justice.

Thellusson added that the respect Dein commands within the game will help negotiations with the governing bodies over issues such as these.

“The role of the chair of G14 is basically to help form, set the strategic direction and lead and manage the management team,” said Thellusson.

“We think David’s clearly got a track record for understanding football and its commercial, legal and political scenarios.

“He’s got a network and strategic position that puts him in a good place to move those debates forward.

“We will hope that he can help build bridges and move these talks forward with UEFA and FIFA.”