June 25, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 20, 1429

GENEVA, June 24: The long-running legal war between soccer’s governing bodies and Europe’s leading clubs was formally declared over on Tuesday though the new association representing the clubs said there were still some key issues to be resolved.

European Club Association (ECA) acting chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in Geneva all legal cases supported by the former G14 group of clubs had now been officially retracted.

But he said the ECA would continue to tackle FIFA outside the courtroom over areas of concern including the international calendar and FIFA’s proposals on quotas for foreign players.

The most significant of the dropped court cases involved Belgian club Charleroi who were suing FIFA over compensation for a player who was out for eight months after being injured.

“The famous Charleroi case was closed last week and all the other similar cases have been closed in the meantime,” Rummenigge said.

“We have had a very positive outcome in our talks with FIFA since the founding of the ECA six months ago and I would say the closure of these cases is a sign that the football family is on a very good way (path).”—Reuters