2023-12-20T15:34:24+00:00
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/ European football will face a fateful day tomorrow, Thursday, awaiting the decision of the European Court of Justice in the “conflict” currently taking place between the continental football federation and the “breakaway” Super League from the Champions League led by Real Madrid and Barcelona.
What is certain is that the current situation is different from what it was in April 2021 when 12 heavyweight clubs announced the launch of the closed Super League with its enormous commercial potential, coinciding with the European Union’s move to launch extensive reforms to its major competition, the Champions League.
UEFA and FIFA subsequently threatened sanctions amid vocal opposition from fans, particularly in England, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham pulling out of the scheme just 48 hours after it was launched.
Two years after its launch, the two Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona remained in the field after their sole sponsor, Juventus of Italy, withdrew in July, under the threat of sanctions against its former president, Andrea Agnelli, who was suspended by the local federation from all positions related to the game, for his alleged role in the “wage maneuvers” case.
On October 11, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez said, “Either we act now or football will not survive,” as he renewed his call for a closed tournament dedicated to Europe’s best football clubs.
The European Court of Justice will rule on several questions put forward in 2021 by a Madrid judge, most notably: “Is UEFA abusing its dominant position” by subjecting any European competition to its authority and threatening sanctions on clubs and players who defy it?
“legitimate” and “proportionate” objectives
As for the Advocate General of the Court, Athanasios Rantos, he considered in December 2022 that the rules set by UEFA and FIFA are “compatible with competition law” of the European Union.
But while his opinions and conclusions are important, they do not bind the European Court of Justice and every nuance in the ruling will matter.
What is certain is that the court will apply the two classic criteria of its case law, by investigating whether the measures taken by UEFA to combat the project pursue “legitimate objectives” and are “proportionate”.
European treaties explicitly protect the continent’s “sporting model” of football, based on a system of promotion and relegation and partial redistribution of revenues.
UEFA, which is regularly criticised for the monopoly of financial resources, talent and titles by a handful of clubs, continues to remind of its efforts to open up its competitions, especially with the launch of the “Conference League” since the 2021-2022 season, to be the third continental club competition in terms of importance after the Champions League and the “Europa League”.
It remains to be determined what measures seem “proportionate” to protect this current model: financial sanctions on the rebellious clubs, or rather the two remaining clubs? Revenge on their players to the point of excluding them from international competitions, as FIFA and UEFA wanted in April 2021?
This last measure is a deadly weapon that could lead to the best players being banned from the World Cup and the European Championship, and even the Attorney General Rantos considered it excessive last year.