Today, December 21, the European Court of Luxembourg must make a very important decision for all of European football. They will examine the Super League’s case against UEFA and FIFA, which is based on the revolutionary question of whether or not UEFA has a monopoly on the organization and commercial management of European football. The fate of the Super League depends directly on the court decision: if UEFA is recognized as violating EU competition laws, the bosses of the new tournament will celebrate the victory and prepare for the launch of a major competition.
UEFA remains convinced that the European Court will rule in its favor (as it did in the December 2022 preliminary report), while the Super League believes the law is on its side. The heads of the best clubs, despite last year’s conclusion, are confident of emerging victorious from this fight with the officials, which they have been carefully carrying out since the first day of the existence of the Super League project. This is not surprising: there is too much at stake: sums with many zeros and enormous power.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin
Photo: Getty Images
The story continues for two and a half years. And now the end is closer than ever.
The Super League was officially introduced in April 2021, and then this proclamation of separation from UEFA became not only loud, but also unexpected. The pompous tournament, which promised to enrich the giants of European football, ended in an equally noisy fiasco: a few days after threats from UEFA and personally from its director, Aleksander Čeferin, the clubs began to abandon the project one after another, accompanying his departure. with apologies. But the three clubs whose leaders led this coup remained. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus decided to go to the end.
UEFA opened a disciplinary case against them, but this did not scare the club’s bosses: they went to the Madrid courts demanding that the illegal procedure be stopped. Judge Manuel Ruiz de Lara agreed with them and then referred the case to the European Court. UEFA did not like the decision and the governing body filed a petition demanding the dismissal of the judge who made this decision. However, the Madrid court did not see any “significant violation” that UEFA lawyers spoke of in the judge’s work and rejected the request.
The next stage in this football clan war was the transfer of the case to the European Court: in May 2021, the Super League appealed to the court with the accusation that UEFA was violating EU competition law by establishing a monopoly especially European football. Florentino Pérez, as one of the ideologues of the project, spoke of the monopoly of the organization of football, highlighting that “the pillar of the European Union is competition.”
Čeferin has repeatedly emphasized that UEFA is fighting “the plans of a handful of oligarchs” but will ultimately win because football “cannot be privatized by a minority.”
Alejandro Ceferin
UEFA President
“They launched their crazy idea for the first time in the middle of a pandemic. Now we read articles every day that they plan to implement it now, in the midst of hostilities. Do I need to say more about these people? They clearly live in a parallel world. And while we save the players together with other stakeholders, while we help in a terrible situation, they are working on such a project.”
A year ago, the European Court of Justice ruled in a preliminary ruling that UEFA and FIFA rules do not violate EU law, meaning organizations can prevent clubs from participating in external competitions and punish players for participating in them. “The rules of FIFA and UEFA, according to which any new competition is subject to prior approval, are compatible with EU competition law,” the judge said.
But the ideologues of the Super League did not seem to care: by that time, the A22 marketing agency, created specifically to promote the Super League, had already developed the principles of the new structure. Those responsible for the project are confident that they are right, so they are preparing to launch the tournament in 2025.
Clubs promote the creation of the Super League
Photo: Juventus.com
The main principles of the Super League: up to 80 participants, the health of the players is the most important thing, respect for EU laws (ha ha, UEFA!)
Open championship with several divisions. The number of participants is 60 to 80 teams to ensure a sustainable distribution of funds throughout the pyramid. No permanent members: clubs are relegated to a lower division or promoted to a higher division each year. The classification is open and is based on the results of the national championships, which are the basis of the basics.Strict compliance with financial sustainability. Expenses must be based solely on resources generated and only a fixed percentage of annual income can be spent.Player health is the most important aspect of development. The number of playing days in European competitions cannot exceed the number provided for in the current calendars.The governance structure should be fully based on EU law. (a kind of stone towards UEFA and competition law), and all laws must be respected.Digitalization, comfort for fans, solidarity. And, of course, the Super League is the best football competition in the world.
The Champions League doesn’t stay still either.
Victory on the field is especially important for Florentín Pérez and Joan Laporta
Once upon a time, a revolution in European football was carried out by Silvio Berlusconi: he came up with the project of his own Super League, which forced UEFA to reform the Champions Cup, which was then a completely unattractive project from the point of view. commercial. view.
It was Pérez who became the current reformer: for many years he spoke of the need to create a separate tournament for superclubs, insisting that such a competition was necessary to increase income, in particular for Real Madrid. His club needs additional funds to be able to compete with wealthy owners in the Middle East and also to finally implement the Santiago Bernabéu reconstruction project.
Is Pérez the second Berlusconi?
Berlusconi is the author of the football revolution. It was he who blackmailed the Champions League into changing.
Victory in court will not only bring him the realization of an old dream, but will also elevate him to the same rank as Berlusconi, who once went down in history with his cunning plans as a great reformer. The defeat will damage the finances of Real Madrid, which lately has been living as if the Super League was definitely going to happen and will allow it to pay off its debts (the Club requested a loan for the reconstruction of the stadium), as well as Pérez. Personal pride: he is not used to losing.
The second person who is in the shadow of the Real Madrid boss, but who plays an important role in this project, is Joan Laporta. Pérez invited him to join the adventure; According to him, it was not difficult: it was enough to convince him that the Super League would save Barcelona from all financial problems. The holes in the budget are now even bigger, so for Laporta the judicial decision will be of vital importance.
Florentino Pérez and Joan Laporta
Photo: Europa Press via Getty Images
And everything in this story revolves around one thing: no matter how you look at it, each participant in the conflict has a unique interest.
Money.
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