From the stadium to the courtroom, there is only one step. Three weeks after the controversy around the Super League project, this dream of an almost closed championship desired by twelve major European clubs, the European Union is entering the dance. Sunk after forty-eight hours of anger and protests from many commentators, players, supporters and football fans, the project is about to take a new turn. Seized by a Spanish judge, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will have to decide whether UEFA abuses its dominant position by opposing the Super League project.
In his order, judge Manuel Ruiz de Lara asks European justice if the threats of sanctions agitated by Fifa and UEFA against members of the Super League could “Enter the frame” the few exceptions enacted in Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which in particular prohibit monopolies.
Madrid Commercial Court judge notes that opposition to this closed championship project is hampering “Potential market competition” and limit “Consumer choice”. He adds that Article 101 of the TFEU prohibits practices which “Have for object or effect to prevent, curb or falsify the play of competition within a market”. Behind this question, we can see the refusal of Florentino Pérez, boss of Real Madrid and the Super League project with his counterpart from Juventus Turin, Andrea Agnelli, to give up his dream of a closed league.
“The ruling will have a big impact on the conceptual clarification and future approval of alternative leagues. He will confirm [ou non] that UEFA has the right to regulate access to the organizational market by opposing restrictions in the public interest ”, Katarina Pijetlovic, a sports law researcher at the University of Manchester specializing in closed leagues, observed on Twitter on Wednesday.
In terms of the regulation of continental sport, the question raised by the Spanish judge is crucial because it opposes the defense of the monopoly of bodies such as UEFA and the claim of private actors to create their own institutions.
Among the twelve clubs wishing to create this Super League, nine finally returned to the ranks after a sling that lasted forty-eight hours. On May 7, they were reinstated by UEFA in exchange for a collective fine of 15 million euros and the waiver of 5% of their European manna for one season.
For its part, UEFA has indicated that it has initiated disciplinary proceedings against the last three mutineers: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Juventus de Turin. Ethics and disciplinary inspectors have been tasked with investigating because the three clubs still refuse to deny this private tournament project.
On Saturday, their leaders continued to challenge UEFA by denouncing “Incessant pressures and threats”. Among the range of sanctions provided for by the statutes of the European Sports Association, some are damn heavy. For clubs, they provide “Exclusion from current competitions and / or future competitions”, and for the leaders “The prohibition of any activity relating to football”.
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