Superleague case, Madrid court finds Uefa monopoly contrary to EU rules

The Commercial Court of Madrid 17 has ruled on the European Super League dispute brought by A22 Sports Management against Uefa and Fifa, applying the principles established by the Court of Justice of the European Union in December 2023. In a decision, binding and enforceable throughout the European Union, it ruled that the statutes of Uefa and FIFA that prevent competitors from entering the market for international club competitions are illegal and incompatible with EU competition law.

The ruling stated that 'UEFA and FIFA abused their dominant position [...] by giving themselves the discretion to prohibit participation in alternative competitions' and 'prevent free competition on the market by imposing unjustified and disproportionate restrictions'. In conclusion, the Court ordered FIFA and UEFA to 'cease the anti-competitive conduct', 'prohibit its future repetition' and 'remove all effects of the anti-competitive actions [...] that occurred before or during the duration of the proceedings'.

For Bernd Reichart, CEO of A22 Sports Management, the company set up to sponsor and support the creation of the European Super League, with the active support to date of Real Madrid and Barcelona, after Juventus' announced step back, the Madrid court ruling 'is an important step towards a truly competitive and sustainable club football landscape in Europe. For too long, Uefa has been allowed to control and dominate club football at the European level. Uefa's statutes and aggressive actions taken to protect its monopoly have stifled innovation for decades and clubs should not have to fear threats of sanctions simply for having ideas and conversations. The era of monopoly is definitely over. We look forward to continuing our dialogue with clubs of all sizes to improve club football internationally and make it more accessible and exciting for fans of all ages."

For its part, Uefa reiterated 'the court in Madrid did not give the go-ahead or approve projects such as the Superleague. The judge, in fact, stated that the Superleague project has long since been abandoned and cannot be expected to rule on any abstract projects'. The note released by Nyon makes it clear that Uefa, "takes note of today's ruling by the Commercial Court of Madrid and will take some time to study the ruling before deciding whether further action is necessary. Uefa is pleased to note that the court confirmed the validity of a pre-clearance system in place for third-party competitions to be approved under Uefa's licensing rules and recognised the undoubted benefits of these rules for the football sporting system. The court also confirmed that the current version of UEFA's authorisation rules (adopted in June 2022) is not affected by today's ruling. The ruling, in short, does not give third parties the right to hold competitions without authorisation and does not concern any future project or any modified version of an existing project'.