The European Court of Justice will announce its ruling on the Super League on Thursday – the decision will have consequences.
What did the ECJ have to decide on?
The Super League clubs successfully sued a Spanish court against UEFA’s threat of penalties. At the same time, questions were raised before the European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg essentially had to decide what it believed took precedence:
Is it competition law? The clubs see their freedom of competition restricted because UEFA threatened them with consequences if they founded their own league. Because the EU must ensure fair and equal competition. Competition law prohibits practices that restrict competition. That also applies to “abusive behavior by companies with a dominant market position”. And that is exactly the case from the perspective of the Super League clubs at UEFA.
Or is it the European sports model? UEFA sees the role of the associations as central: The European sports model states that only one association should be responsible for each sport; in the football pyramid this means a sequence from FIFA via UEFA to the DFB with its regional and state associations in Germany .
The verdict will be announced on Thursday (December 21, 2023) along with several other decisions. The meeting begins at 9.30 a.m. and the verdict on the Super League should be known in the morning.
How are the chances?
The starting position could speak in favor of UEFA. The ECJ Advocate General Athanasios Rantos read out his opinion in December 2022 and declared the rules of FIFA and UEFA, which must approve every new competition, to be compatible with EU competition law.
Rantos emphasized that an independent football competition such as a Super League could be founded at any time. But the clubs would then not be allowed to take part in FIFA and UEFA competitions at the same time without prior approval. This means that if they take part in the Super League, the Super League clubs might also have to leave the national leagues – which would be extremely unattractive for the clubs.
This view would strengthen UEFA’s role. The question now is whether the court follows the assessment.
The UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland
What do the Super League clubs want?
The marketing agency A22 represents the Super League externally, its boss Bernd Reichart told Sportschau that, in his view, UEFA was abusing its monopoly: “UEFA organizes the competitions and at the same time can reject other competitions – that is a conflict of interest.” Reichart criticizes the fact that commercial organizations for professional football such as the DFL in Germany are possible at the national level – but not at the European level.
Bernd Reichart represents the Super League with the A22 agency.
Reichart also sees the European Cup as poorly organized and the reform of the Champions League only inflates the competition instead of improving it. Above all, they want more top games. The Super League also criticizes the fact that, apart from two seats on the UEFA Executive Committee, the clubs have no real say. Real Madrid President Florentino Perez repeatedly defends the Super League. “The clubs should have their own destiny in their own hands”he said at a Real Madrid general meeting.
Are the Super League’s arguments valid?
Supporters of the Super League criticize a conflict of interest at UEFA. For example, the fact that UEFA generates revenue from the Champions League and, when enforcing financial rules, may have to exclude the valuable clubs with the biggest stars if they violate them. But this conflict of interest could also apply to the Super League.
There can hardly be any question of a lack of say for the clubs, says William Martucci in an interview with Sportschau. He sold UEFA’s media rights for years at the marketing agency TEAM and now works for the smaller club association UEC. “Proponents of the Super League would have us believe that UEFA has ruled alone for 30 years. In fact, all major changes to the format, qualification or distribution of money have been driven by pressure from top clubs.” The threat of the Super League has helped the big clubs enforce their demands for years.
Former UEFA marketer WIlliam Martucci
The large club association ECA now runs a joint venture with UEFA to exploit the commercial rights of the Champions League. According to an agreement in principle with UEFA, all decisions regarding the mode, the distribution of money and the qualification must be developed together with the ECA. The ECA is already a limited number of top clubs, says Martucci. “A22 and the Super League want to give even more power to an even smaller group of elite clubs.”
How is European football positioned?
All interest groups publicly speak out against the Super League. In addition to UEFA, the club association ECA and the European league association European Leagues, in which the DFL is also organized, have clearly rejected the competition. The international players’ union FIFAPRO and the Football Supporters Europe fan alliance also opposed the Super League. The DFB also spoke out against the Super League. UEFA also got several European institutions such as the EU Parliament and the EU Commission on its side.
The attorney general’s request underlines “the central role of the associations,” said UEFA. This includes regulating European football, protecting the pyramid and developing the game of football across Europe.
What does today’s Super League have to do with the 2021 attempt?
In April 2021, twelve clubs wanted the Super League: Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool FC, Chelsea FC, Arsenal FC and Tottenham Hotspur, Juventus Turin, AC Milan, Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid should play . At that time it was a competition with 20 teams, of which 15 teams were supposed to have fixed places – the “Closed Shop”. With pressure from fans, UEFA and, above all, British politics, the league was prevented.
In February 2023, the marketing agency A22 presented a completely different format. “A European football league should be an open competition with 60 to 80 teams in several divisions”, says a statement from A22. So it should “no permanent members” give. Every club should be in the possible Super League classes “14 guaranteed games” – in the reform of the UEFA Champions League from 2024, at least eight per club are planned before the knockout round.
What consequences would a Super League have for the Bundesliga?
According to Reichart, the new format of A22 may also include promotion and relegation between the three planned European leagues. The Bundesliga would practically be fourth tier among the three leagues. This would also make it possible to stay in the top division – qualification via the national league would no longer be necessary for the big clubs and would only be more difficult for smaller clubs. Such a sporting devaluation would also have commercial consequences for the DFL.
The new Super League format with promotion and relegation between three leagues is very similar to the first proposal for the 2024 Champions League reform, which was announced in 2019. At that time, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin did not follow the wishes of the ECA and its chairman Andrea Agnelli, which contributed significantly to the attempted creation of the Super League in 2021.
Union Berlin against Real Madrid – would that still be possible?
If the Super League should be allowed – when will it come?
If the ECJ were to decide in favor of the Super League, it would probably take time to set up and start operations. Most of the big clubs – especially in Germany – have at least publicly turned away, with only Real Madrid and FC Barcelona remaining from the first attempt. Even Juventus Turin has considered leaving.
The case law has no effect on English clubs due to Great Britain’s exit from the EU. So far, the Premier League has threatened its clubs with a deduction of 35 points if they do so “unauthorized competitions” connects. This regulation could also continue to exist if the Super League were to have jurisdiction. The hope of the Super League would be that if the verdict was positive for them, the clubs in England would also push for such obstacles to be removed and the Super League could be created in the medium term.
What else matters?
The ECJ is also deciding on a case involving speed skating, although it concerns individual athletes. The International Ice Skating Union (ISU) had banned two Dutch people from taking part in a competition run by a private organizer. The two athletes took action against it and were initially proven right because the rule violated European competition law.
An application has been made to the ECJ to overturn this judgment, which would strengthen the association, as in the Super League case. In this case too, Athanasios Rantos is the advocate general.