Manchester United chief David Gill has been elected a member of the European Club Association's 15-man board along with the Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez.
They defeated the CSKA Moscow, president Evgeny Giner, in a poll to choose two new board members.
"I'm obviously very pleased to be elected," said Gill. "The ECA has a very important role to play in the relationship with Uefa and other bodies within European and world football."
Pérez, who orchestrated Real's 250m (£220m) off-season spending spree, said he was "very happy to be able to work for the clubs inside the big European football family".
