Real Madrid, Juventus and Barcelona have remained keen to be part of a European Super League
According to a major decision delivered on Thursday by the European Union’s Court of Justice, UEFA and FIFA would be authorized to freeze out a European Super League and its competing teams.
Following a disastrous introduction of the Super League last year, 12 teams agreed to participate before most withdrew quickly in the face of a fierce response from fans, lawmakers, and football governing organizations.
The Spanish league has since stated that it is determined to fight a fresh proposal for an elite league, which it has warned will “destroy” the domestic game’s current structure.
The proposals were revived in October 2022, with Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Juventus still thought to be interested; however, there is still strong opposition from UEFA, which administers European football, and FIFA, the world governing body.
Athanasios Rantos, the advocate general of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU), was responding to a request by the Commercial Court in Madrid to rule on whether FIFA and UEFA would have the right to operate in compliance with competition law and fundamental freedoms.
The European Super League (ESLC) alleged that such acts were anti-competitive and incompatible with EU competition legislation.
Rantos stated in his opinion, which is not binding and will be followed by a court decision expected in the new year, that “while ESLC is free to set up its own independent football competition outside the UEFA and FIFA ecosystem, it cannot continue to participate in the football competitions organized by FIFA and UEFA without the prior authorization of those federations.”
FIFA and UEFA had warned that players and clubs involved in the breakaway league would be barred from competing in their respective leagues.
Six Premier League clubs and three from La Liga and Serie A initially agreed to join the European Super League before public outcry forced a change of heart.
The judgment from Rantos underlined that national federations and leagues would be allowed to threaten fines against clubs participating in contests “which would risk compromising the objectives properly pursued by those federations of which they are members”.
“UEFA enthusiastically appreciates today’s unequivocal opinion proposing a ruling of the CJEU in favour of our primary purpose to manage European football, defend the pyramid, and grow the game across Europe,” UEFA said in response.
It welcomed the judgment as “a promising step towards sustaining the existing dynamic and democratic governance structure of the European football pyramid”.
“Football in Europe remains unified and strongly opposed to the ESL, or any such breakaway initiatives that would undermine the entire European sports ecosystem,” UEFA underlined.
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