The oral hearing of the Super League case will be held on March 14

The hearing found that the CJEU found that FIFA and UEFA regulations, which require prior authorization of any new competition project such as the Super League, violated the Union Code but did not comment on the specific project of that competition.

The European Court presented its conclusions only on general questions regarding the rules of both organizations, as this is the opinion put forward by the 17th Commercial Court of Madrid, which is currently considering the case.

According to the CJEU’s decision, which is binding on the Spanish court, the UEFA and FIFA abused its dominant position, because the rules that make the creation of a new competition subject to its permission “are not subject to any criteria that guarantee its transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate character.”

“The power to determine the conditions under which potentially competing companies may enter the market; this power must be accompanied by criteria ensuring its transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate character, taking into account the risk of conflict of interest it creates”, he claimed.

According to the court, “the powers of FIFA and UEFA are not subject to any criteria of this nature”, therefore they “abuse their dominant position” and “their rules on the exercise of broadcasting rights may harm European football clubs” by preventing their audience from benefiting from potentially innovative or interesting new competitions.

However, he noted that it was up to the Commercial Court No. 17 of Madrid “to check whether these arrangements can benefit the different interest groups in football, for example through a solidaristic redistribution of the income from these rights.” .

The main supporter of the project is Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez. “Tremendous satisfaction” and “football will never be a monopoly again” after learning of the decision, He also noted that he designed the Super League as “a modern project based on sporting merit, fully compatible with national competitions.”

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta commented that the decision “proves that the Catalan club was right.” “It opens a historical opportunity” Reformulating the structure of European football.

In the opposite direction, UEFA assured that the penalty does not amount to “approval or disapproval of the so-called Super League” and showed confidence “in the robustness of its new rules and, in particular, in their compliance with all relevant European laws and regulations.”

In addition, FIFA, UEFA, the players’ union FIFPRO Europe, the Spanish LaLiga and the European Club Association (ECA), Leagues (EPFL) and Amateurs (FSE) also assured that “there is no room for any form of Super League”. In Europe” and “what matters is sporting merit.”

LaLiga President Javier Tebas said: “There will be no Super League in the short, medium and long term. “Because it is not legally possible,” he said, and assured that if Real Madrid and Barcelona wanted to establish their own competition, they could do so “tomorrow, but outside the FIFA environment and without the income of the Champions League.”

The announcement of the CJEU decision was another step in the process that started on 21 April 2021 with the launch of Supeliga’s supporters, A22 Sports Management SL and European Super League Company SL. They condemned UEFA and FIFA for the abuse of the dominant position. By threatening promoted clubs with sanctions.

The case reached the Luxembourg court a month later, when the Madrid player’s then owner Manuel Ruiz de Lara sent him a preliminary ruling to rule on this case of possible abuse in accordance with Union regulations. For this reason, as explained in its decision yesterday, the CJEU did not decide the case only because general questions regarding UEFA and FIFA regulations were raised.

A22 Sports Management celebrated the TJU decision as a victory, which could make football “free” and, in the words of its CEO Bernd Reichart, “clubs can defend their destiny”, once again presenting a new format including: women’s football, in which 64 participants were divided into three groups, a champion in each and promotions and relegations to make it an “open competition”.

On the other hand, In June 2022, UEFA changed its regulations regarding the pre-authorisation of new international club competitions. In order to protect the European sports model and to have objective, transparent and non-discriminatory licensing rules and sanctions set by the CJEU.

Sets administrative and financial criteria for how solidarity will be distributed and the international calendar; Sporting and technical criteria referring to clubs and the classification model, regulations, match calendar and sporting merit criteria.

Secondly, it requires confirmation that the competition must comply with the principles of openness and sporting merit and that this does not affect the proper functioning of domestic club competitions or UEFA club competitions.

It requires the new competition to request permission twelve months before the proposed start and gives UEFA a period of 12 months to decide. Failure to comply with these rules attracts sanctions that can result in maximum expulsion.

This regulation amendment adopted It will be one of the arguments that UEFA will present in its defense and against the Super League at the oral hearing.

Moreover, LaLiga, the only league involved in the procedure, assessed in its report on the damages that the Super League would cause that it was “a selfish and selfish proposal designed to further enrich the already super-rich, which would mean the disappearance of hundreds of people.” clubs and tens of thousands of job opportunities in all European countries.