KARAJICA: EFA TEAMS ‘HAVE CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS’ WITH ELF
European League of Football CEO Zeljko Karajica continues to insist that teams which have aligned with rival competitions remain contractually bound to the ELF, even as the league navigates financial restructuring and mounting competition.
“Some EFA teams have valid contracts with the ELF,” Karajica told Christian Koch of ran.de. “We place great importance on fulfilling obligations arising from these structures and resolving differences constructively. We hold all partners accountable for their responsibility within these shared structures, and the contractual agreements naturally remain in effect.”
The comments come amid turbulence for the five-year-old league. Several franchises have joined the European Football Association (EFA), which plans to launch its own competition, while the American Football League Europe (AFLE) has also emerged. Of the teams that remained unaligned at the start of the year, the Helvetic Mercenaries recently withdrew from the ELF season, while the Munich Ravens were subsequently confirmed as a member of the EFA.
Despite the upheaval — including the departures of ELF powerhouse franchises Vienna Vikings and Rhein Fire and financial issues affecting other clubs — Karajica was unequivocal about his league’s future.
“The 2026 season will take place as planned,” he insisted. “Our operations will continue, the sporting planning is in full swing, and we will publish the schedule as announced by the end of February.”
Karajica acknowledged that financing challenges derailed earlier plans tied to a capital increase in December 2025, which also prevented a ELF leadership transition involving Ingo Schiller.
“The decisive factor was that planned capital measures could not be implemented as intended,” he said. “The challenges therefore lay not in operational management, but in financing.”
All of the above is taking place against a backdrop of the ELF filing for preliminary self-administration proceedings with the Hamburg District Court. Karajica, however, frames the move as tactical rather than existential.
“We are deliberately using the preliminary self-administration proceedings as a strategic instrument,” he said. “It allows us to implement necessary changes independently within a legally protected framework, while business and match operations continue in full. Our goal is to strengthen the league economically, involve investors, and sustainably develop European football.”
With Karajica insistent that ELF contracts with several defecting clubs remain valid, could we see the possibility of those teams fielding ‘reserve’ squads to fulfil legal obligations to their former league?