The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) demonstrated this Thursday that FIFA and UEFA rules on the prior authorization of club football competitions, such as the Super League, violate Union Law.
The highest administrative body of the EU pointed out that UEFA and FIFA abused their “dominant position” in their action against the creation of the controversial soccer Super League.
This decision gives free rein to the clubs to form the controversial competition announced in 2021. The Super League project, in which six leading teams from England, three from Italy and three from Spain initially participated, would be a European competition parallel to the to the champions. However, the plan was diluted after threats of sanctions from the clubs’ regulatory bodies, causing most of them to abandon the plan. Now the CJEU agrees with the promoters of the European Super League.
Non-recurrence decision
A22 Sports Management, the company that after the rebel league, sued UEFA and FIFA in Spain, alleging that their threats constituted an “insurmountable barrier” to the new tournament and violated antitrust legislation, according to Bloomberg. The dispute ended up at the CJEU, where judges were asked to answer questions about the scope of EU law in a key test of the future powers of governing bodies.
Finally, the decision of the Grand Chamber, which answers the preliminary questions posed by the Commercial Court No. 17 of Madrid and cannot be appealed, contradicts the opinion of the attorney general assigned to the case, who when publishing his non-binding conclusions a year ago argued that UEFA and FIFA acted in accordance with the law.
The highest administrative body of the European Union (EU) demonstrated that UEFA and FIFA abused their “dominant position” in their action against the creation of the controversial soccer Super League.
“The rules of the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that make any project for a new club football competition, such as the Super League, subject to their prior authorization and that prohibit “If the clubs and players participate in it, under penalty of sanctions, they are illegal,” the ruling states.
However, the Luxembourg-based court adds that “a competition such as that of the Super League project should not necessarily be authorized.”
“Having been asked questions of a general nature about the rules of FIFA and UEFA, the Court of Justice does not rule, in its ruling, on this specific project,” the court states.
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