Court Rules UEFA, FIFA Unlawfully Blocked European Super League

Facts

• The European Court of Justice has found that the soccer's world and European governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA, have abused their dominant position to prevent clubs from joining the breakaway European Super League (ESL).¹
• The case had been referred from a commercial court in Madrid to the court in Luxembourg to decide if the governing bodies' rules for new competitions were in line with EU competition law. Last December, a non-binding report from Advocate General Athanasios Rantos concluded that the rules were compatible with the law.²
• This verdict doesn't mean that the ESL — first launched in 2021 — must be allowed to establish its competition, but rather that UEFA has to revise and clarify its guidelines on prior approval of interclub soccer competitions in order to comply with EU regulations.³
• Shortly after the ruling was announced on Thursday, ESL's backer, A22 Sports, set out its updated plans for an open, meritocratic three-tier system with 64 clubs to be played midweek, replacing the UEFA Champions League, as well as a two-league format with 32 clubs to supersede the Women's Champions League.⁴
• Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Roma, Atlético de Madrid, and Manchester United, whose owners were among the brains behind the original idea, have been the first clubs to take a stand against the Barcelona, Real Madrid-backed competition.⁵
• Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo reported earlier this month that the El Clasico rivals would receive a cash injection of over $1B each if the Super League goes ahead, adding that the breakaway competition could be the short-term solution to their financial problems.⁶

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²The Athletic, ³Independent, ⁴ABC News, ⁵Marca and ⁶Forbes.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Telegraph. It's utterly unwise for Super League plotters to celebrate this verdict as a victory, given that nothing has changed at all. First and foremost, the ESL still has to be approved under the yet-to-be-improved regulations. Only then would Barcelona and Real Madrid be able to start their flop two-club competition.
• Narrative B, as provided by The Guardian. While it's unlikely that the new Super League model will entice other European giants to join Barcelona and Real Madrid after reducing their financial incentives, this ruling has undisputedly opened the door for breakaway competitions to establish themselves in European soccer. The monopoly of FIFA and UEFA is finally under threat.

Predictions