Soccer: Super League promoters win battle over European justice

Four days before Christmas, were Real Madrid and Barcelona going to open their presents a little early? The question has tormented the world of football, which has been suspended by the decision of the European Court of Justice (CJEU). The body responsible for enforcing European law on Thursday, December 21, ruled in the case of the Super League, a semi-private competition project that competes with the Champions League. The court found that the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) are exercising a monopoly contrary to European law on free competition, agreeing with the Super League promoters. A decision that could change the future of European and world football.

FIFA and UEFA rules that require their prior authorization to create any project for a new club football competition, such as the Super League, and ban clubs and players from participating in it with fines, are illegal.Consider in the decision of the court, as far as ” [leurs] The powers are not governed by any criteria that ensure their transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportional character. » However, the court did not rule on the legitimacy of the Super League project.

Therefore, the Court did not follow its Solicitor General’s opinion a year earlier. “FIFA rules [la fédération internationale] and UEFA [la fédération européenne] Prior authorization of any new competition is compatible with Union competition law.Considered by Athanassios Rantos, 15 December 2022, considering that UEFA was within its rights when the Super League initiative threatened to sanction formations that tried to explode continental football in April 2021.

The CJEU decision was seen as rare for this high court. Like its predecessor, the European Court of Justice, whose Bosman decision in 1995 changed continental football by liberalizing the transfer market. “The future of European football will depend on the answers the court gives to the issues, which are mainly related to competition law and, among others, fundamental freedoms.”– the General Prosecutor discussed in his conclusions.

The attempt was aborted in less than 48 hours

The idea of ​​creating a private league to shake up European football outside of government rule has been around for a long time. “Official”, was related to the creature of Loch Ness: we imagined that it was hiding in the depths, while we were sure of its absence. But such a competition, semi-closed – or a certain number of clubs guaranteed to take part regardless of their results at national level – and coming to weed UEFA’s flower beds, was announced on a Sunday evening in April 2021.