David Dein last night returned to football politics by taking up the post of G14 president. The Arsenal vice-chairman suffered enormous embarrassment at the hands of fellow Premiership chairmen four months ago when he was ousted as one of that league's representatives to the Football Association board. But he bounced back on the European stage yesterday, taking up the position at the head of the most influential pressure group in club football.
On claiming the G14 post vacated by the former Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, Dein set out a programme for a more dialogue-based approach towards their disputes with the football authorities. "I hope that as chairman of G14 I will be able to build bridges with Uefa and Fifa," said Dein in a statement. "I want to bring about change harmoniously and constructively. There are issues, such as player release, insurance and the international football calendar, which remain a source of dissatisfaction for many professional football clubs, not just G14 ones. We think these can be resolved if we all work together. I hope that over the next nine months we can achieve this."
As a long-serving member of Uefa's club committee, Dein has close links with the European governing body but G14 will not drop ongoing legal action against Fifa, which demands compensation to clubs for national teams' use of players.