The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice has said that UEFA and FIFA acted against competition law as they blocked the European Super League (ESL) in 2021.
A ruling from that court said the actions were against EU law but did also say that any new European Super League may not be given the green light. Their decision will now be passed back to a commercial court in Madrid to make a final decision.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino commented: “With the greatest of respect to the European Court of Justice today’s judgement does not change anything, really. Historically, we have been organising the best competitions in the world and this will also be the case in the future.”
What does this mean? Well, for now, the clubs still committed to the dying embers of the European Super League dream (namely Barcelona and Real Madrid) believe they still have a chance of setting it up.
The Premier League has released a statement saying it will “fully examine its implications for the game” and that this ruling “does not endorse the so-called ‘European Super League’ and the Premier League continues to reject any such concept.” The PL adds that it “reiterates its commitment to the clear principles of open competition that underpin the success of domestic and international club competitions..”
There has also been a new format and plan launched by A22 Sports, the company set up to run the ESL, which would have 64 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams involved in midweek competition where there is promotion and relegation in both.
What is/was the European Super League?
In April 2021 there were 12 clubs announced as founding members of the European Super League: Premier League clubs Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, plus Spanish sides Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid (Barca and Real are the only two remaining members of the Super League) and Italian giants AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus.
The plan was for 15 founding members to never be relegated from the European Super League, while 20 teams in total would compete in the ESL each season with five teams promoted to the league via a qualifying system based on their most-recent domestic league position.
After huge fan backlash, particularly in the Premier League, clubs pulled out immediately and only Barcelona and Real Madrid remain totally committed to the European Super League, while Juventus have also admitted they believe it can still work in some shape and form.
With a new independent regulator set to be appointed to oversee the English game and the Premier League in 2024, all English clubs are set to be banned by government law from competing in the ESL or any other breakaway leagues moving forward. Also the Premier League Owners’ Charter agreement in 2022 stated that clubs will not engage in the creation of a new league outside of the PL and all clubs signed up to that agreement.
Reaction to court ruling
Barcelona and Real Madrid have celebrated the decision as both said they will now ‘control our own destiny’ while the duo of Bayern Munich and Manchester United have both released a statement saying that would not be backing any newly-formed Super League.
“At Real Madrid we welcome with great satisfaction the decision taken by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is responsible for guaranteeing our principles, values and freedoms,” Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, who was named the chairman of the ESL, said. “In the coming days we will carefully study the scope of this resolution, but I do anticipate two conclusions of great historical significance. First of all, that European club football is not and will never be a monopoly again. And secondly, that from today the clubs will be the owners of their destiny. Clubs see fully recognized our right to propose and promote European competitions that modernize our sport and attract fans from all over the world. In short, today the Europe of freedoms has triumphed again and today soccer and its fans have also triumphed. Faced with the pressures we have received for more than two years, law, reason and freedom are imposed today. And for this reason, Real Madrid will continue to work for the sake of football.
Barcelona were equally as delighted as their president, Joan Laporta, also held a news conference where he revelled in the court’s findings.
“FC Barcelona wishes to express its satisfaction with the sentence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) assessing the Super League project as proposed by A22 Sports,” Barcelona said in a statement. “As one of the clubs driving the Super League project, FC Barcelona feels that the sentence paves the way for a new elite level football competition in Europe by opposing the monopoly over the football world, and wishes to initiate new discussions as to the path that European competitions should take in the future.”
Manchester United were on the opposite side of the fence.
“Our position has not changed. We remain fully committed to participation in UEFA competitions, and to positive cooperation with UEFA, the Premier League, and fellow clubs through the ECA on the continued development of the European game,” Manchester United said in a statement.
Bayern, who never signed up to the ESL, released a strongly-worded statement against the creation of the new league. Their CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, who is also vice-chairman of the European Club Association (ECA) said the following:
“We have taken note of the judgement of the European Court of Justice. However, this does not change FC Bayern’s and the ECA’s position that such a competition would be an attack on the importance of the national leagues and the structure of European football. The Bundesliga is the foundation of FC Bayern, just as all national leagues are the foundation of other European football clubs. It is therefore our duty and our deep conviction to strengthen them, not to weaken them. We are also committed to the European club competitions under the umbrella of UEFA. So let me make it very clear once again that the door for the Super League remains closed at FC Bayern.”