European Super League plans are still alive after judges ruled that UEFA's blockade of such a proposal was contrary to EU law.
This morning it has emerged that UEFA and FIFA acted against competition law by blocking the formation of the European Super League in 2021.
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice had been asked to come to a decision over the matter - and they have found that the governing body's rules are contrary to EU law.
A release issued by the court said such rules were “contrary to competition law and the freedom to provide services”.
#ECJ: The #FIFA and #UEFA rules on prior approval of interclub #football competitions, such as the Super League, are contrary to #EUlaw #EuropeanSuperleague 👉 https://t.co/ATb3CgbPxg pic.twitter.com/XCnLzwIKWb
— EU Court of Justice (@EUCourtPress) December 21, 2023
The court release added: “There is no framework for the FIFA and UEFA rules ensuring that they are transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate.
“Similarly, the rules giving FIFA and UEFA exclusive control over the commercial exploitation of the rights related to those competitions are such as to restrict competition, given their importance for the media, consumers and television viewers in the European Union.”
Twelve clubs – including the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ – announced the formation of the original European Super League in April 2021 but the plan quickly collapsed amid fan protests, pressure from UEFA and FIFA and even opposition from the British Government.
But now the ECJ appears to have given the green light to any such competition being relaunched in future.
“The court observes that the organisation of interclub football competitions and the exploitation of the media rights are, quite evidently, economic activities,” the court release continued.
“They must therefore comply with the competition rules and respect the freedoms of movement, even though the economic pursuit of sport has certain specific characteristics, such as the existence of associations having certain regulatory and control powers and the power to impose sanctions.
“The court also observes that, in parallel with those powers, FIFA and UEFA themselves organise football competitions.”
Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of Super League promoters, A22, said on X: “We have won the right to compete. The UEFA monopoly is over. Football is free. Clubs are now free from the threat of sanction and free to determine their own futures.”
Reichart also pledged “free viewing” of Super League matches to fans, though it was not immediately clear whether this meant for those watching in stadiums or on television or other platforms.
He said revenues and solidarity spending were “guaranteed”. A22 is set to hold a live streamed event in Madrid at 11am UK time.
The court held that where an undertaking, such as UEFA, holds a dominant position and has the power to determine the conditions in which potentially competing undertakings such as A22 may access the market, that power must be subject to criteria which are suitable for ensuring that they are transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate.
It found UEFA and FIFA’s powers were not subject to any such criteria and that those organisations were therefore “abusing a dominant position”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here