Soccer governing bodies UEFA and FIFA will next week try to convince Europe’s top court that they have the right to prevent clubs from joining a different league and to punish players in a case that violates their monopoly power and Flashy media can infringe rights.
The dispute between UEFA, FIFA and the European Super League has implications for other sports, clubs and players eyeing lucrative deals offered by rebel bodies and hoping to cash in on relatively short careers.
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Announced in April last year, the European Super League collapsed in less than 48 hours when fans, governments and players forced Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atlético Madrid did. pull out.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus, however, remain the holdouts. The Super League took its complaint to a Spanish court, which subsequently sought guidance from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg.
The issue is whether certain provisions in the laws of FIFA and UEFA allowing them to block rival events are in line with EU competition rules against companies or bodies abusing their dominance.
The CJEU must also decide whether threats by both bodies to bar clubs and players from participating in the Super League or to ban national team matches are an abuse of their power.
UEFA and FIFA’s media rights to the competition are also another issue for the Court during the 11-12 July hearing. A decision is expected next year or later.
UEFA has previously stated that it is confident in its position in all relevant jurisdictions. “We are confident that the European Court of Justice will properly interpret EU competition law and existing precedent,” a Super League representative said.
It’s time for a change in the system, said Mark Orth at law firm MEOlaw.
He said, “The current monopoly position of sports federations is not challenged by competition, but reinforced by exclusivity provisions, which prevent the emergence of any kind of competition, the source of many harmful developments in the sports world, ” They said.
“The question of ownership of media rights is the deciding question in every sport and determines the relationship between the federation and the club,” Orth said.
More than 20 European countries and the European Commission are supporting UEFA and FIFA. Case C333/21 belongs to the European Superleague company.
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