Official, Super League wins: “Abuse of dominant position by UEFA and FIFA”. How is football changing?

Football as we know it today risks changing completely. The Court of Justice of the European Union accepted the appeal on the Super League issue. “Abuse of dominant position by UEFA and FIFA”, is the opinion of the Court. A decision much awaited by the entire world of football and information which risks undermining all the beliefs held so far.

The full statement

“The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) are associations governed by private law based in Switzerland. Their objective is to promote and establish the framework for football at global and European level. They have adopted rules which give them the power to approve football competitions between clubs in Europe and to exploit the various media rights relating to those competitions,” reads the note from the Court of Justice of the EU.

“A group of 12 European football clubs, acting through the Spanish European Superleague Company, wanted to create a new football competition project: the Super League. FIFA and UEFA opposed the project, threatening to impose sanctions on clubs and players who decided to attend”.

“The European Superleague Company filed a legal action against FIFA and UEFA before the Commercial Court of Madrid (Spain), claiming that their rules on the approval of competitions and the exploitation of media rights were contrary to EU law. Having doubts on the issue, among other things, of the fact that FIFA and UEFA hold a monopoly on that market, the Spanish court referred questions to the Court of Justice”.

“The Court observes that the organization of football competitions between clubs and the exploitation of media rights are, evidently, economic activities. They must therefore respect the rules of competition and freedoms of movement, even if economic research in sport has some specific characteristics , such as the existence of associations with regulatory and supervisory powers and the power to impose sanctions. The Court also notes that, in parallel with those powers, FIFA and UEFA themselves organize football competitions.”

“Subsequently, the Court states that, when an undertaking in a dominant position has the power to determine the conditions under which potentially competing undertakings can access the market, this power must be subject to appropriate criteria to ensure transparency, objectivity, non-discrimination and proportionality, given possible conflicts of interest. However, the powers of FIFA and UEFA are not subject to such criteria. FIFA and UEFA are therefore abusing a dominant position. Furthermore, due to their arbitrary nature, the rules on approval, control and sanctions should be considered unjustified restrictions on the freedom to provide services.”

“This does not mean that a competition such as the Super League project must necessarily be approved. The Court, having received questions generally about the rules of FIFA and UEFA, does not rule on that specific project in its ruling.”

“In parallel, the Court observes that FIFA and UEFA rules relating to the exploitation of media rights are harmful to European football clubs, all companies operating in media markets and, ultimately, consumers and television viewers, preventing them to enjoy new and potentially innovative or interesting competitions. However, it is up to the Commercial Court of Madrid to verify whether such rules can still benefit different stakeholders in football, for example, by ensuring a joint redistribution of the profits generated by such rights”.

Why is it a historic day for football?

It therefore opens up to the possibility of the creation of any international competition by any entity. In essence, the Super League is legitimate, just as any other entity could contact football teams to organize a league parallel to UEFA or FIFA without these entities being able to incur sanctions for the clubs that decide to be part of it. A sentence that risks having the scope of the Bosman sentence, which in December 1995 revolutionized the transfer market forever, allowing players to move freely to another club at the end of their contracts.

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2023-12-21 09:02:46
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