The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued this Thursday, through its general counsel, Athanasios Rantos, the opinion about the possible position of monopoly of the UEFA in European football. A ruling that is a severe blow to the Super League. It is not binding but it represents a decisive step in the dispute between the governing body of this sport in the old continent and the creators of this new tournament project.
Rantos has endorsed the arguments of the body led by Aleksander Ceferin, considering that the FIFA and UEFA rules that make any new competition subject to prior authorization are compatible with Union Law on competition. Thus, although the ‘European Super League Company’ is free to create its own independent football competition outside the UEFA and FIFA ecosystem, it cannot, in addition to creating that competition, continue to participate in the football competitions organized by both without the authorization of those federations.
Despite not being binding, Rantos’s opinion will be the basis on which the fifteen judges chosen to form the ‘Grand Chamber’ that has the last word will now deliberate. The Court of Justice of the European Union considers that its judges follow the line of these previous opinions in approximately 80% of the cases. The final judgment is expected to be known in the spring of 2023.
This procedure that came to court in April 2021, when the Commercial Court number 17 of Madrid received the lawsuit from ‘A22 Sports’ and ‘European Super League Company’ against UEFA and FIFA for abuse of their position dominant, in accordance with articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, by opposing an alternative competition defended by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus.
The lawsuit included a request for precautionary measures, which were initially upheld by the Madrid court, and which forced UEFA to paralyze the files open to the clubs involved. Later these measures were withdrawn, but the body led by Ceferin has not punished the three clubs that are still embarked on the project.
Despite the attempts to approach the Super League through the company ‘A22 Sports’ and its CEO Bernd Reichart, which include a meeting with various sectors of European football on November 8, UEFA has always remained immovable in its position , assuring that “all European football opposes his greedy plan.”
Among the efforts of the Super League to bring positions closer to Ceferin’s body and other players in European football such as leagues, clubs and fans, is the reformulation of its model, which contrary to what was explained when the birth of the project, would now be based on “meritocracy”, eliminating the criticized fixed positions.
Satisfaction in UEFA
As soon as this opinion was made public, UEFA issued a statement in which it welcomed “with great satisfaction” the ruling “recommending a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union in support of our central mission of governing European football, protecting the pyramid and develop the game throughout Europe.
“UEFA welcomes the unequivocal conclusions presented today by Advocate General Rantos, which are an encouraging step towards preserving the current dynamic and democratic governance structure of the European football pyramid. The conclusions reinforce the central role of federations in protecting sport, upholding the fundamental principles of sporting merit and open access among our members, as well as uniting football with shared responsibility and solidarity.”
“It is an encouraging step towards preserving the current dynamic and democratic governance structure of the European football pyramid”
“Football in Europe remains united and strongly opposes ESL, or any such split proposal, which would threaten the entire European sports ecosystem,” he adds.
“While we await the final judgment of the Court, scheduled for next year, UEFA, as a public interest and not-for-profit governing body, will remain fully focused on its mission of developing football for all, in close cooperation with the national associations. , the leagues, the clubs, the players, the fans, the EU institutions, governments and other stakeholders who have the true values of football at their hearts,” he concludes.
LaLiga’s response
LaLiga, the only league championship involved in the procedure, held this Thursday the conclusions of the CJEU General Advocate. “Firm defender of the current European football model, which has demonstrated its success”, the body chaired by Javier Tebas recalls that “the creation of a Super League outside this governance model would also mean the end of the European national leagues, it would end with a model that has proven its effectiveness for more than 100 years and would break the dream of millions of fans of national competitions.
Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga
He describes the Super League as “a league designed to enrich the biggest clubs and concentrate power in a small number of teams that already dominate European football”, which he believes would “result in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and it would drastically reduce the tax revenues of the public coffers of the entire continent.”
“Although the conclusions published today are not binding, LaLiga trusts that the magistrates of the Court of Justice of the EU, when they issue their final verdict in the coming months, share the opinion expressed by the Advocate General,” it says in its official statement. . He recalls the text that “the authorities of the European Union have also expressed themselves previously. The Commission and the European Parliament have positioned themselves against the European Super League by defending an open, democratic model based on meritocracy. Parliament’s resolution had the support of 87% of the votes.
“From LaLiga, along with other European leagues, we will continue fighting for the European institutions to legislate and provide legal protection for the current European soccer model,” concludes Javier Tebas, its president.
