The initiators of the controversial football super league have achieved a legal victory. A commercial court in Spain partially upheld a lawsuit filed by the company responsible for the planned competition, European Super League Company SL (ESLC), against possible sanctions by the international associations FIFA and UEFA. However, the ruling is not legally binding and can be appealed in Madrid.
The judge in charge of the Commercial Court No. 17, Sofia Gil Garcia, announced in her ruling on Monday that the International Football Association (FIFA) and the European Football Association (UEFA) had abused their dominant position and prevented free competition on the market. The judge ordered an end to the “anti-competitive behavior”. The associations had imposed “unjustified and disproportionate restrictions” that violated two articles “of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)”.
Abuse of market power
Gil Garcia had to take into account a fundamental decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in December. The EU judges had already accused the international associations of abusing their market power. According to EU law, a competing product to the Champions League must in principle be possible, they said. But that does not automatically mean that the Super League must be approved, said the European judges.
This was pointed out in an initial reaction by the head of the Spanish professional league, Javier Tebas, who is opposed to the project, which is being pushed forward primarily by the president of the Spanish top club Real Madrid, the powerful businessman Florentino Perez. “It is important to clarify that the judge (following the ECJ) is demanding that FIFA and UEFA make the rules for new competitions transparent and guaranteed, but this does not mean that she is blessing the Super League,” Tebas wrote on X (Twitter). The ruling is neither final nor does it bring anything significantly new. In addition, the Super League is “described as a project that was abandoned in its original form.”
Only Real and Barca support projects
After the ruling, it remains questionable whether and when the European Superleague Company project can be realized. In 2021, twelve top European clubs tried to make a big revolution. They founded the Super League practically from nothing and failed miserably. UEFA and FIFA threatened to impose penalties. The outcry from leagues, fans and politicians was so great that most clubs quickly backed down. Apart from Real and FC Barcelona, no one is currently actively supporting the project.
