The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) today issued a ruling favorable to the Super League and contrary to UEFA’s positions.
UEFA have suffered a bitter defeat in the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in their dispute in court over the creation of the Super League, a private football tournament independent of the highest governing body of football on the old continent. According to the opinion issued today by the CJEU of Luxembourg, neither UEFA nor FIFA can require alternative competitions to be subject to their authorization and cannot prohibit clubs and their players from taking part in such competitions. However, this does not necessarily mean that the Super League must be authorized, the CJEU judges emphasize.
“The rules of FIFA and UEFA on the prior authorization of club football competitions, such as the Super League, violate Union Law,” the CJEU rules in a lawsuit in which billions of dollars are at stake. euros in advertising and broadcast rights. “These rules are contrary to competition law and the free provision of services,” states the ruling in relation to the Super League, a private competition promoted by Florentino Pérez and Joan Laporta, presidents of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona respectively.
When the Super League emerged from its shell in 2021, it came face to face with the frontal rejection of UEFA and FIFA and also a good number of governments and football fans, which caused the project to quickly lose steam (although it has now received an important injection of oxygen with the favorable opinion of the CJEU).
The Super League has celebrated the favorable ruling of the CJEU and has announced the creation of a streaming video platform
«We have won the right to compete. UEFA’s monopoly is over. Football is FREE. Now the clubs will no longer suffer threats and sanctions. “They are free to decide their own future,” says Bernd Reichart, CEO of A22, one of the companies (along with the European Super League Company) that sponsors the Super League.
“Hemos ganado el derecho a competir. El monopolio de la UEFA ha terminado. El fútbol es LIBRE. Ahora los clubes ya no sufrirán amenazas y sanciones. Son libres de decidir su propio futuro”, Bernd Reichart, CEO de A22, sobre la decisión del TJUE. 1/4
— A22 Sports (@A22Sports) December 21, 2023The ruling of the CJEU has been preceded by a dispute that has lasted for approximately two and a half years. It all started in April 2021, when twelve major European football clubs (Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Juventus, Milan, Inter, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal , Chelsea and Tottenham) realized their intention to revolutionize football on European soil through the creation of a private competition, the Super League, which aspired to steal from UEFA a good portion of a succulent cake (in terms of advertising and broadcasting rights) that the highest body of European football until then had swallowed completely alone.
The Super League was confronted, however, with sharp criticism from UEFA, FIFA, national football leagues, fans and politicians. UEFA also threatened to exclude players from clubs involved in the Super League from all competitions played with their national teams.
UEFA’s threats caused nine of the twelve clubs that were initially part of the Super League to disassociate themselves from the project. Only Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Juventus swore allegiance to the Super League.
Shortly after, European Superleague Company, one of the companies that provide support for the Super League, filed a lawsuit in a Madrid court in which it accused UEFA and FIFA of acting as a kind of cartel in their fierce opposition to the supported competition. for Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Juventus.
According to this lawsuit, both UEFA and FIFA would be abusing their dominant position in the soccer market. And the opinion issued today by the CJEU largely supports this accusation.
If it finally sees the light of day, the Super League would include 64 clubs divided into 3 divisions: the Star League, Gold League and the Blue League.
The teams assigned to this competition would play round-trip matches in groups of 8, adding a minimum of 14 matches per club each year. And the Super League matches would be broadcast on a video streaming platform created ad hoc and named Unify, which will in principle be free in nature (in its most basic version at least) and will be financed through advertising, subscriptions premium, distribution sponsorships and interactive services.
For its part, LALIGA, which already opposed the competition sponsored by Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, wanted to emphasize that the CJEU ruling does not endorse the Super League and that UEFA already adopted a modification of its rules in 2022. regulations for the authorization of new competitions, which adapt to what the CJEU is now ruling.
Furthermore, although the promoters of the Super League claim that this ruling proves them right, the reality is that the CJEU has been clear in stating that “a competition such as that of the Super League project should not necessarily be authorized. “Having been asked general questions about the rules of FIFA and UEFA, the Court of Justice does not rule, in its ruling, on this specific project,” the sports competition chaired by Javier Tebas highlights in a statement.
